Crystal

For all its glitter, diamond

is only carbon, never mind

differences in price, quality, prestige.

Carbon, they said, was black, ugly,

so they changed the refractive index,

used it as lead to shoot

graphitic holes in paper masks,

then realised it could be polished

to still greater purposes, and made

what we call a diamond. The softness

gradually became hard.

Today, only another diamond

can cut me.