Wednesday, May 07, 2014

New poem: Kintsukoroi

Today, I learned a new word: Kintsukoroi. It means:


"To repair with gold". The art of repairing broken pottery with gold or silver lacquer and understanding that the piece is more beautiful for having been made broken.


This is the poem that came to mind.


Kintsukoroi


"To repair with gold". The art of repairing broken pottery with gold or silver lacquer and understanding that the piece is more beautiful for having been made broken.


The pot lay whole on the sideboard

Precious and special

Full of memories, hopes and dreams

Many had touched it, held it, cradled it

Children, adults, visitors, strangers

Many had admired it

Some had love it

Few had hated it

For what it was and what they weren't

Precious and whole

But one day, the perfect was shattered

Perfect pieces flew across the cream white carpet

Peaceful shards dug in deep

And the perfect felt despised

The whole felt shattered,

Its perfection broken,

Its pieces scattered.

No-one walked near

Hands held back

For where is the beauty in brokenness?


Yet one came near

One saw the much loved pot

Saw past the brokenness

Knew the pot it had once been.

Piece by piece, He mended

Tending each crack, one at a time

Splinter by splinter

Piece by piece

And in the cracks He mended the brokenness with beauty

With gold and love He set the pieces in place

Until the pot was whole again

Broken now made whole

Its brokenness inlaid with gold

It's cracks boldly shining

For they made the pot even more beautiful than before

Kintsukoroi

More beautiful for having been broken

And lovingly restored.

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