ANCIENT
MODERN
MY TRUE COLOURS
suggests
Lapis Lazuli
IT FELL INTO MY LAPIS!
I was thinking of lapis lazuli (as I very frequently do!)
When a card of that very colour was delivered!
And I was so overcome with all that serendipity
That I simply gazed at it a while, and really quivered!
Maybe I exaggerate, but it was a quirk of fate
That the colour that I sought was in my hand!
And it made me ponder deep and long on the way that times have changed!
The commonplace was once so rare and grand!
To make the ancient artifact the precious stuff was mined
In long-gone times, deep in Afghanistan
And it was considered rich and rare in Egypt and beyond
Long before modern history began.
As paint it decorated many a lovely piece,
And ornaments were carved with antique skill,
While only Royalty could boast that lovely Royal Blue
And Commoners could only gaze and thrill.
Yet now, because of science, all colours can be ours;
As, above, on the cheapest cardboard, as you see!
It's a throw-away, a piece of junk, some garbage, nothing more,
But the glory of it's colour ! Glory be!
*
Mining lapis lazuli today.
*
More mining magic here:
