One of many

I sit on my shelf

among strangers, of my kind

a sticker on my side 9.99

my edges polished, tumbled smooth

but I was not asked.

5000 years with my kin in the earth

Born together, singing in the womb of our mother where we thought we’d always be

Long ago, hard to know when, I was taken from them.

Separated violently

by roaring metal beasts

Would I recognize my brothers?

Would their voices sound the same?

Were they ground into powder?

Or like me, made to be shiny,

collected?

Maybe it does make sense

to envy us, knowing we live so long—

In truth, we cannot die.

time and patience

is all we got

You don’t have either.

So. in this dusty shop, undignified

I wait

again

for what I don’t know