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(LIFE-GOLD)

    THE REAL, CHERISHED GOLD

   There's the golden ore that's dug out of the earth. 
And then there's the inner gold in life that makes us shine.


miner


   LIFE-GOLD collection of poems copyright (c) 1995 by Marilee Miller
illustrated Web version copyright (c) 2009 by Marilee Miller
All rights reserved.  One copy allowed on non-commercial computers for personal use.
Otherwise, no copying in any form (electronic, digital, or mechanical) without permission.
        admin  @  cooshistory  com     (close up spaces and add dot)




     
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   (L I F E - G O L D)



RIVER GOLD

River gold --
Gold glittering,
  Tumbled by the waterfall;
    Scoured by roiling currents
      In the mountain stream.
Deposited willy-nilly by Nature;
  Happily panned by miners,
    Golden nuggets,
      Treasure find!

~ * ~



VEIN GOLD

Vein gold --
Gold glinting,
  "Found-stone" of chill rock-vein,
    Its presence told by
      Glimpse of pressured quartz seam.
Men chip away with pointed hammers:
  Discard quartz and porphyry,
    (Yes, whole mountains full!),
      In hopes of seizing paydirt,
        That yellow gold.

~ * ~



BEACH-SANDS GOLD

Beach-sands gold --
Gold flecks sparkling
  In clean sunlight:
    Gold in sands of smudgy black,
Mingled brightly, flecked plainly;
Gold glistening,
  Cast upon the shore with
    Oiled grit and slime.
Wondrous, hope-wealth patches
  Of black sand here and there
    On Oregon beaches;
Hard gold to find among
  The more ordinary, scenic dunes.
Black sand miners of another century
  Struck it rich 'til winter's storm;
    Sea-treasure then was buried
       By dirty, dusty, sea-brought
        Regular brown sand.
After storm, gone was the gold,
  The wealth washed-over.
                                  
Only Nature's seashore sand-beauty left.
(Miners couldn't see the good of that!)

~ * ~


WORKING THE GOLD

The labor after yellow gold
  Means industrious, zealous search;
One must really have to work a lot,
      To gather gold!

Nature's erosion brings gold
  To open where men garner riches,
    Or toil to set up washing force
      Of hydraulic miner's flume.
  Tough as jeweler's abrasive powders,
Sea grit hides the gold of beach sands.
  Or human's skillful pick
    Breaks open wedging seam:
    Expose' of golden gleam.

~ * ~



MALEABLE GOLD

Beaten gold --
Wherever the plundered gold is found,
  Its purpose is but to be wrought,
     Refined or beaten maleable;
    Drawn into filigrees aglimmer,
Or made molten in casting
  To ease heart's desire.

Gold buffed, ground smooth, scoured,
Gold polished bright;
  Wielded under hammer blow
    Or heated in fire's red glow,
Only then does beach mineral,
  Or the ore plucked out of vein,
     Attain to its full usefulness
      And great price of value
        In the marketplace.

~ * ~



VALUED GOLD

Man quests for gold,
  Thinking to make a happier life
    By fashioning beautiful things.
      And yet, I treasure
Another sort of gold,
    To my eyes, far more fine,
        Of rich design,
     Than ornaments or golden rings.
    Far more perfectly
Than hand or machine can mold,
  God shapes the patterns of life
To show the inner gold
     That makes our character to shine.

~ * ~



INNER GOLD

Dream-gold --
A satisfying richness in "potential",
  Shimmering stuff of our dreams.

Each one of us called God's children
Contains both "found" gold
  And "dug for" worth:
    Maybe tumbled, exposed,
      Beaten by circumstances,
        But not by God's will broken!
(Yet scouring trials are necessary
  To flush out impurities.)

Cast into mold for patience,
  Or hearth-blue-fire to temper.
    God's working-process wears thin
The pressured seam of busy,
  Self-centered life of today.

The black beach sands in the heart of us,
  Washed ashore by storm,
    Must be left to lie, or purified,
      Until our self-desires sift away
        By incoming tides and winds of God.

And then when troubles are o'er,
  Endured well and faithfully,
    When tasks the Lord has given
      Are performed obediently,
The enabling hammer, pick, and pan
  Of God are laid to rest,
    Or final shaping mold is taken away.
Others are finally able to behold
  In us what beauty-design
    Our God has delicately wrought!

~ * ~



GREATER GOLD

How far greater the charm now
In our God-filled lives,
  Than the character known
    To us "in the rough" before!
We are not beings made by our own hands;
  God has created us to attain
    To our full value in His sight.

      Yes, for we are worth the price
        That He has paid for us:
His own labor determines our worth --
  He, giving of his all on our behalf,
    To redeem our closed up hearts,
In his time presents to all the world
  The joyful beauty
    Of lives refined by HIM!
                                               
Gold glittering,
Dream-stuff fulfilled,
  As our potentials are fitted
    For service on earth,
      And then for glory above!

~ * ~

   LIFE-GOLD collection of poems copyright (c) 1995 by Marilee Miller
illustrated Web version copyright (c) 2009 by Marilee Miller
All rights reserved.  One copy allowed on non-commercial computers for personal use.
Otherwise, no copying in any form (electronic, digital, or mechanical) without permission.
        admin  @  cooshistory  com     (close up spaces and add dot)

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