The Kiln        by Judy DePauw

"Is not the cup that holds your wine the
very cup that was burned in the potter's oven?"
                               -Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet

  I am molded
  By the joy of meeting,
  Fired in the sorrow of goodbye.
  Each dull day repeats the last.  Each night
  I pray time will reduce to embers
  The white flame of the kiln!
 
  Did you think I would remain unchanged?
 
  It is as though, wondering alone,
  I stooped to pick up
  A shiny piece of broken glass,
  And holding it skyward,
  I saw my world
  Go from sky blue to emerald green.