More Haiku and Tonka, Japanese form poems - Haiku, consisting of three lines with 5-7-5 syllables, a Tonka has five lines with 5-7-5-7-7- syllables, repectively.  I’m very fond of jewelry with faceted gems. Many gems have names that are not commonly used. I just started picking the names of gems at random to see what I could create.Then, I decided to see if I could get some of the lines to rhyme.

 

 

Emeralds suffer from

A bombast of green fire

Banked inside the gem.

 

Rubilite, rubies

Punctuate furious gems,

Pulsating stones, which

Involve unclarified reds,

In convoluted jewels.

 

Garnets bestow seeds

Of rosey benevolence

In glowing facets.

 

An invitation

To gaze into the blurred site

Of Prasiolite -

A murky glowing jewel,

Of yellow, green muted pools.

 

 

Opals flash ribbons

Of benevolent colors -

Cascades of light….

 

Come to my studio,

I’m carving a conch shell

Into cameos -

Beautiful busts of women

In shades of cream and persimmon.

 

Tsavorite is the

Non de plume for garnets that

Are green in color.

 

Fracture glassine stone

Columns of crystal quartz in

Amethyst; citrine

and other rainbow hues that lie

In dark caverns underground.

 

Opals cast the strange

Voodoo of boulder gems by

Dispersing the Moon.

 

Rubies nourishing

Inner heat in the blood of

Women, gracing the

Taperd fingers, on soft hands

Holding glasses of champagne.

 

 

Diamonds reveal the

Heart and soul of the firelight

Ad infinitum.

 

Hessonite sounds like

A mercenary soldier

Creating havoc,

But it’s burgundy garnet,

Well known and traditional.

 

 

A Mabe’ pearl is

The bon vivant of nacre

In its de rigueur.

 

Preimer slices of

Tourmaline culminate in

Watermelon rinds -

Pink surrounded by green rings,

Luscious gems of summer fruits.

 

Andulucite is

The femme fatale of Autumn’s

Lovely haute couture.

 

Moon over moody

Moonstones, watching witches

Dance in the moonlight,

Conjuring up swirling mists,

Making magic in twilight.

 

Indicolite blues

Exchange slices of sapphire

Vargas mosaic.

 

The Tigar-eye stares

At man, not comprehending

His noble vestiage.

The tiger sees only prey -

A good satisfying meal.

 

Blue Tanzanite ice

Fires forward a blazing red

Incendiary.

 

Rare Dementiod gems

Report the reflections of

Atypical greens.

 

Buried a million

Years under the pressure of

Terra firma, an

Ammonite opalizes

In red, blue and green flashes.

 

Agates comprise the

Assembly of cosmic earth in

In layers of color.

 

Let’s get in the car,

To Central America

Drive. We’ll go to Larimar,

Where the stones are as blue as

Water on Terra Firma.

 

 

Topaz dazzling flare,

Golden zenith fires – ruler of

Libra zodiac.

 

Beware of Biwa

Pearls. They come from mollusks in

The Yangftze River.

China’s unpredictable

When it comes to precious stones.

 

 

Chrysoprase are shades

Of liquid pastels, soft as

A baby powder.

 

Vibrant green, frozen

In Siberian mines – chrome

Diopside rivals

The intense emerald of

Prehistoric north forests.

 

The Tsarina of

Russia, Alexanderite -

A color-change jewel.

 

Petticoats, ruffled

As crazy-lace agates, pop

Layers of colors

Past the eyes of patrons

Of vaudeville routines.

 

 

Lava, cooled after

The volcano erupts, forms

Olivine crystals.

 

Victorians cried

Their tears, wore Jet beads at times

Of abject morning.

 

Deep amber shades of

Honey, perfected by wild

Bees, rust, orange, golden

Slabs of Carnelian – a

Stone both ancient and modern.

 

Peridot, evening

Emerald of the Egyptians,

Green even at night.

 

Harder than steel, Jade

Is the imperial gem

Of the Orient;

Set into precious gold jewelry,

Carved in intricate statues.

 

 

Women, with strands of

Yellow Heliodor, dancing

In pale evening light.

 

Spreading jam over

Wheat bread is what Jasper looks

Like – appealing or

Unappealing, depending

On whatever mood you’re in.

 

Beryl, precious stones

In Aquamarine, Emerald; the

Rarest red Bixbite.

 

Blood upon the stone,

Red droplets sprinkled lightly

Over the deepest green,

Alternative birthstone -

A Bloodstone for a Pisces.

 

Color drenched in pink,

Morganite, a femme’ gem,

Named after a man.

 

Dive in the sea,

Swim among living Coral

Reefs, housing creatures -

Precious, disappearing life,

Strange to us, who live on land.

 

 

Obsidian, gem

Of Apache’s  lost nation -

Their tears turned to stone.

 

Gossular garnets

Are rare in red, and come in

Every color but

Blue. Imagine how hard it

Is to capture rare gem sites.

 

Iolite, sea sapphire,

Brings lost sailors back to their

Home’s faraway shores.

 

Caribbean sea

Waters reflect Turquoise or

Asparagus green -

Apatite variations

Whiting tastes for rare gems.

 

Succulent slices,

Orange Spassarite garnets are

Juicy Jujubees.

 

Imprison bugs in

Sticky Amber sap, from

Trees millions of years

Old. When It heardens to stones

String them around lovely necks.

 

Her eyes are Turquoise

Jewels, blue as Father sky”s

Strand of gems around her throat.

 

Glowing coals, deep shades

Of verdent forests burn

Inside a Sphene’s sheen.

 

Pyrite crystals flash

On the midnight blue background of

Lapis Lazuli,

The queen of heaven’s mantle -

Symbol of her mystery.

 

Save culture from the

Sardonyx images carved

In centers of stones.

 

Expand your mind’s eye

To Spinel, twice the diamond’s

Reflective splendor,

Coming in every color

Of natural crystaline.

 

Gregorian chants

Resounding through the windowed

Columns of Rose de France,

Resolving  inner questions

Of why the soul wants to dance….

 

Drusy, clusters of

Tiny crystals, clutching at

Everything it can

Catch, in myriads of sharp points

Sparkling in any light.

 

Rhodachrusite is

Precious beyond diamonds as

A neon, pink gem.

Most of the time, it’s pretty

As a cloudy specimen.

 

Garnet asterism

Has a gliding star over

Its rounded surface.

 

Zircon is a gem

Where pleachroism is a

Double refraction

Inside cut stones reflecting

Back twice the brilliance of diamonds.

 

From Nepal comes a

Gem, as blue as sapphire,

Kyanite – clear as

Pure water or lusterous,

Opaque, oriential silk.

 

Yin/Yang, old symbols

combining into a Yag,

Tiny crystals, too

Small for cutting. Someone makes

The stone synthetically.

 

Sodalite, confused

Often as a substitute

Lapis lazuli,

Is a deep, denim blue stone

Representing cloudy skies.

 

Sun burning through gems

Flashing golden chatoyancy

Back to the wearer.

In the past, synthesized by

Monks. but now mined in Oregon.