Pearl

I’m a grit of sand intruding
Within this organism
Finding a place, within this space
Hoping to belong

However carefully I tread
However lightly I roll
I cause the membrane to be red
A contaminant to this hole
I sit in place, no further movement
Remaining stationary, no involvement
I dare not move here I stay nestled,
Cause nothing to stir till all is leveled

Yet even my stillness causes you to stir
Drowned in iridescent nacre
Layer upon layer you build my shell
Separating you from me as well
Your irritation
Has caused my evolution

When at last you open
And I am released
I am a pearl
And you are deceased
I return to survey what was done
Empathy, attachment I have none
The oyster that formed me, I was never part
And pearls acquire only beauty not a heart.

Keats
19 October 2010