The Diamond

 

 

 I read once upon a time that a diamond is just a piece of coal that stuck to its job. I wondered about the truth of the saying, but I liked the notion of it. I had never seen the inside of a diamond-mine. Not even in a movie. But there were loads of movies that featured coal mines. After I read this quote I began to picture a dark, dusty coal mine. I pictured all the pieces of coal and one older piece of coal, the one with the vision whispering to the younger pieces,

‘One day you will be a beautiful diamond.’

And all the other cynical pieces of coal laughing  at it and saying, ‘so when is all this going to happen.’

And the old piece of coal says, ‘Be patient, you’ve got to stick to your job.’

 

And then after many years the morning dawns and the old piece of coal realises that something has happened. There is a glow about it. And everyone notices.

‘What is the glow that surrounds you?’ They ask.

And the coal replies, ‘Why, I think my time has come. I think I am a diamond.’

And in truth, that is what has happened.

And all the other pieces of coal look at the new diamond and they suddenly believe that they too can become diamonds. And with that belief they are all transformed. And suddenly, the coal mine is glittering. It is full of little rainbows of colour. It is spectacular. And that is how a diamond mine is born.        

A piece of coal on its way to being a diamond

My spirit is a piece of coal

On its way to being a diamond

And I am the miner

Chipping away at the mountain

Of hurt, anger and fear,

In the mine of my soul.

And as I excavate

I find fragments of crystal clarity

Little glints of the flawless jewel

That awaits me.

So with every truth I see further

Into the depths of my being

And with every act of understanding

I unearth a buried treasure of wisdom

A glimmer of my true self

And as I journey deeper into the mine

I feel that I am lost.

But suddenly, up ahead,

My healing light catches a sparkle,

A brilliance at the core

That is me.                                                      

 ©  Eithne Reynolds

  Picture courtesy of Diavik Diamond Mine