as good as dead / Sarai on the shore
Harvey S. Mozolak

dropped between the sands
a small stone
fallen from the ring of those who loved
so deeply
they encircled the stars and sea
in their hope for forever
the diamond loosened in a crushing wave
her hand releasing his
for moment
to swim alone and right herself
the gem slipped unseen
into the water
clear as its clarity
slowly rolling ashore
with the broken
shorn of shape and worn
where she having noticed
its brightness gone
its edge of remembrance
no longer felt against her flesh
now searches frantically with a flashlight
in the darkening hour
somewhere near where they wore
the sun as clothing
as good as dead the trust
that she will find it
amid the countless sands
and numberless night eyes of the sky
the moon glints on a single facet
or was it one of the stars' glances?
a single hard crystal
among the many white and brown
grey opaque
and broken hulls of the hidden
when they marry she wears a gold shell
about her neck
a piece of common sand
from that beach
glued in its center
and her fingers turn the ring prayerfully
after the birth of their first child
accounting beyond translucent life
of harder unseen wealth

Lectionary 19
Genesis 15. 1-6