This pearl of consent was slowly secreted,

Undiscoverable, hidden beneath beds and water

As It grew in the dark, its rarity delightfully

Folding slick satin membranes that were

Isolating, obscuring the initiating

Seed of corruption that appeared,

Starting a process of concealment and

Shrouding from the living thing itself

 

Ancient mounds of broken shells

Are found where the shore used to be

Some are immense, tens of thousands

 

They were hungry, their appetite insatiable

Already eternally human, their

Days always wet, wading and scrabbling

 

What would he think if he found this gem?

Hold it up to the sky and roll it in

His clever fingers, rejoicing?

Imagine the brief glory, a prized respite from subsistence

 

No longer rare, in the future the

Common beads will spill from us as if

We were entitled to a cheap fortune

However devalued by time and ubiquitousness.