Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: busy

Poem: "Pearls Before Time"

This poem is the freebie for the June 2014 Torn World Muse Fusion.  It was prompted by [personal profile] ellenmillion.  The Duurludirj divers were somewhat inspired by traditional Japanese divers.


"Pearls Before Time"


When the world was broken
and the pieces divided from each other,
people found ways of surviving,
and eventually they sought out
luxuries again.

In the Rockfang islands,
pearl-divers learned to hold their breath
and use special knives to pry open
the oysters and search for hidden gems.

After reunification,
they learned about time crystals
and began to search for those as well,
so much more precious than pearls
and so terribly dangerous.

Some of the time crystal miners
are the worst of the Empire's convicts
forced to serve for their crimes,
but others are free citizens drawn by
the lure of exorbitant pay and
the hope of striking it rich.

Along the coast of the mainland,
citizens dive for time crystals
using special suits and helmets
and a mechanized air supply.

In the Rockfangs, however,
Duurludirj pearl-divers still go down
bareskinned with a knife between their teeth
in search of sunken treasure.
Tags: cyberfunded creativity, free stuff, poem, poetry, reading, torn world, weblit, writing
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  • 2 comments
technoshaman

technoshaman

June 29 2014, 14:29:33 UTC 7 years ago

I'm reminded of Scott O'dell's The Black Pearl...old-school diving for pearls... and El Manta Diablo... :)
ysabetwordsmith

Yes...

ysabetwordsmith

June 29 2014, 16:12:35 UTC 7 years ago

That's one of my favorite stories -- not for the plot, but for the moral. "Enough is plenty." I bet it rarely gets reprinted anymore, teaching the opposite of modern culture.