Pressure and the Precious - A Poem by Kristen Sykes

 

Green plants producing food to feed
Of value to man's daily need
And when the fruitful harvest's o'er
The plants descend toward a value more.

 

Vegetation pressed down, decayed
Heavy pressure thereon laid
Becomes useful coal, a mighty force
Cooks the food from garden grown
And warms the family in the home
For jobs and goods a grand resource.

 

More pressure piled on black coal fuel
Produces diamonds' crystal jewel
Beauty brilliant
Value great
The hardest substance in the world.

 

In all the simple element
Is carbon rearranged:
We need not be of special stuff--
Just under pressure changed.

 

by Kristen Sykes