for Julie
on her birthday
Tradition grants you bloodstone or jasper,
one’s ebony quartz adorned with crimson
etchings, the other’s smooth surface grasps your
varied moods: bright red, green, and occasions
of blue. This rang true in early days while
the zodiac ruled fates in India
and Babylon. Mystics prefer jade’s smile
when moon’s glow reflects unworked silica
as hues of Aegean foam the moment
Aphrodite formed. Thus our jewelers
now display aquamarine to foment
mythology’s passion in March. Truer
sight would cite your eyes, which in photos seem
like a fawn’s waking from a happy dream.
Roger
March 29, 2011
