Between a rock and a soft place

A bit of a magpie, I’ve always been fascinated by gemstones; by their colours, textures and especially their exotic names. Some time ago, during my years as a doctoral researcher, I found myself working in a jewellery shop; the owner knew me from coming in to hover and purchase small gifts and offered me a part-time job. I was smitten with a large slab of labradorite at the time. Set in silver, its discreet iridescent flash of blue lit up its swampy grey as if declaring: don't judge by surface appearances! Look deeper to find the energy. I took the job. Though I’ve never been fully ‘on board’ with New Age theories about the healing vibrations of crystals, I was in love with everything else about them. Carrying secret stories about how the earth evolved over millions of years, they are full of the hidden music of its DNA. It was inevitable that a poem would gradually crystalise and here it is! I’m delighted to discover that it was last Friday’s ‘Poetry Break’ on Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council’s youtube channel and you can enjoy it here