KEEPERS

He walks along the shore with his companion
A bright summer morning, air fresh, sky blue,
The cool sand crunching under their feet;
Gulls call in the distance.

He stops to pick up a shell, she walks on.

Iridescent green and red shine in its inner spiral.
Intricate striations and knurls on its outside.
It is beautiful, perfect, a keeper.

He takes it to his friend.
She looks at it, observes that it is pretty,
But, it has a piece missing;
It's broken and not whole.
"You're not going to keep it, are you?"
She moves on, looking for her keepers
Further along the shore.

He walks with her,
Still holding the shell,
And knows that, to him,
It is whole and complete,
In and of itself.

It is not deminished by what is absent,
But is perfect just the way it is;
Just so.

He puts it in his pocket.

Rather than looking to find perfection,
He finds perfection where he looks.

Oh, look at that...

Norfolke '99