POEM - Gems: A Still Life

In velvet hush, beneath a beam of light,

A glass-topped case displays the earth’s pure might.

Not loud with voice, nor moving limb or breath,

Yet pulsing with the tales of life and death.

Here lies a sapphire, blue as twilight’s veil,

Its facets frozen stars, a captured gale.

It hums of oceans ancient, skies unrolled,

A monarch's eye, serene and sternly bold.

Beside it, nestled in a velvet shroud,

An emerald, green as forests dense and proud.

Its fire subdued, a woodland in repose,

Each gleam a leaf, each flaw a vine that grows.

A ruby glows like fever, fierce and wild,

A warrior’s heart, a fevered, laughing child.

It drinks the light and spits it back in flame—

A jewel of passion, peril, praise, and shame.

A diamond, cold and clear, devoid of hue,

The hardest truth the earth could ever hew.

It holds within its core a patient age,

A silent witness trapped on nature’s stage.

An opal dreams in clouds of shifting fire,

Its milky skin alight with sly desire.

The colors bloom, then vanish into mist—

A memory you thought you'd long dismissed.

A garnet, dark as wine in deepest cask,

Wears mystery like an antique Venetian mask.

It bears the weight of whispers left unsaid,

Of candlelit confessions softly bled.

Amethyst, cloaked in regal violet tones,

Recites its hymns from geologic thrones.

Its voice is low, like monks in twilight chants,

A prayer held tight in ancient elegance.

They do not move, nor breathe, nor gaze, nor speak,

Yet each is rich with stories long and deep.

Beneath their shine is pressure, heat, and time,

A patience wrought more sacred than a rhyme.

They are the still life—held in hushed parade,

Not born to fade like flowers in the shade.

No withering of petal, stalk, or leaf—

No fleeting bloom to end in quiet grief.

They live in stillness, resting in their truth,

The birthright of the planet’s primal youth.

Each cut and polish, every gleam and glare,

A human hand translated from the rare.

We see in them a mirror, bright and pure,

The chaos we’ve refined, learned to endure.

In tiny vaults of carbon, feldspar, flame—

The world compressed into a precious name.

Yet what they hold is more than wealth or pride,

More than adornments worn or locked inside.

They are the earth's unspoken, gleaming psalms,

The ancient world, preserved in glittered calm.

So gaze upon these gems, this still life bright,

And know that time can birth both strength and light.

Within their silence lies a roaring sea—

Of what we are, and what we strive to be.

Short Summary:

"Gems: A Still Life" is a 750-word contemplative poem that explores various precious stones—sapphire, emerald, ruby, diamond, opal, garnet, and amethyst—as symbols of nature’s artistry and silent strength. Through vivid imagery and metaphoric language, the poem paints each gem not just as a beautiful object, but as a keeper of ancient stories and emotional resonance. The poem contrasts the ephemeral nature of life with the timeless endurance of gemstones, portraying them as still yet powerful reminders of Earth’s hidden life and human connection to the natural world.