Is digging
through particles to
quarry.
            A question-
it is never a sin.
Some stones are
worth more than others.

Chafed fingers polish
the dust from the core
and decide whether
to keep or
to cast off- Remember
a saying goes:
“Not all
 that glitters is gold.“

Sharpen your pickax- patiently,
 coax the testing Earth.
The mine is filled with
shades and shadows. The untroubled light
of hollow deception.
Seek the impassive
luster of petrified stones
and yet, is it not
the raven coal