The Ammonite

It is a heavy thing; its surface, flat
and smooth gleams with a polished sheen.
A hard object, giving few signals that
this rock is not what it has always been.
Only the fragile walls encasing stone,
the perfect spiral structure, subtly show
this mineral was once a creature’s home.
This object was alive, aeons ago.
It has a beauty now; the crystal grains
trapped in its chambers give no clue
that what was here before had flesh, had brains.
Time has transformed it into something new.
A journey started in some ancient sea,
long dry, has come to rest – for now – with me.