“i thought it was a pearl”

The tide went out.
A puddle of murky seawater, clinging to ridges of sand and shore, remained.

I saw it then,
resplendent in the afternoon light.

I thought it was a pearl.

My mood lifted at the thought of discovering such an unexpected gem.
Sand beneath fingernails,
eyes squinted,
I saw that it was just a broken shell.

I thought it was a pearl.

And while it was no real treasure,
it was my treasure.

Before this beach was just a landscape of broken shells, a valley of salty bones.
Now my imagination —sparked by wonder and worth— sang to the tune of “what if?”
— a harmony of illimitable possibilities within the every-dayness of our life-song’s melody.

I thought it was a pearl,
and maybe it was.