The Tempest

My latest creation. Large, faceted Sodalite teardrops hand-wrapped in sterling silver wire. It was my first time with this technique, and if you think it looks easy, let me tell you, my friend, you are grossly mistaken. I used an entire order of sterling silver wire (what is it, 5 feet?) to wrap these babies. I think my mistake was using dead soft wire. It kept getting kinked up, and it's so soft, there is no way to straighten it back out. All attempts just led to breakage. So one length of sterling silver wire and two hours later, viola! After all, it is the end result that counts, right?

I named these lovelies after a poem I wrote several years ago entitled "The Tempest". Read it and perhaps you'll see why...

The Tempest

The wind is a torrent of darkness
Tossing the churning sea
The rain slices down in it’s madness
And chortles in it’s glee
Leaping and dancing blissfully
In it’s dark and twisted game
Daring the ocean to retort
And buffeting it to shame
In it’s heart it knows no mercy
No stillness lingers there
No goodness can become of it
Within it’s evil lair
It takes the sea it’s captive
And clutches it deep beneath
Then sets it free to burst forth
With what it may bequeath
On and on through the endless night
The tempest rises and falls
Shaking an angry fist to the sky
It smashes the watery walls
‘Til at last it robs all breath within
And takes on a more silent form
As it sinks to the grave of the ocean floor
And finds death at the end of the storm.

I wrote that on March 20th, 1998, at the age of 21. It's actually one of the last poems I ever wrote. Somehow I seemed to dismiss penning verse as a childish pastime. I wonder why? I miss it now, the way the words seeped across the page, so fast my hand could scarcely keep up. At the time it seemed like a never ending well, but it has long since dried up.

I wonder how long the drought will last...