Both hands to pull a rib up out the dirt

gently, firmly, yet not separate,

The dimmed mind comes to full alert:

Vertebrae joins to vertebrae, what is unearthed

defies him to guess its size.

The loamy brown lifts off a buried beast,

curiosity lends the strength to

throw the whole spine over to one side,

Gratified! now shining in a line underneath

a row of unknowns the size of fists,

the buried life of this monster

has been hardened to eleven priceless diamonds.

The farmer returns to work, though suddenly rich,

The way he thinks has been patterned thus:

He learned since he was five

to let sudden changes first expand in time,

lest a too-swift fortune help

him forget his worth in his own mind.

Arkenstones eleven, now in his cupboard

glittering, waiting, alive.

Showing by challenge how much of life he can align:

If they’re another kind of seed, 

the right soil is what he needs to find.