As the sun retires and dusk sets,

millions of stars slither across the sky,

quietly, like grains of sand being washed up

the universe's shore, a perpetual occurrence.

Clouds slowly dissipate, unraveling the sun's counter,

like an oyster opening its mouth, revealing a luminous pearl.

a lone scavenger meanders across the shore,

ignoring the pearl, sighing so evermore–

suddenly, his eyes light up as he fixes his gaze on a single grain,

alike yet unlike from the rest,

he hesitates to pick it up,

the grain that patches his crimson core.

As the wave laps on the shore,

devouring everything, including the grain,

normalizing the beach as if nothing happened,

the scavenger continues the meandering,

knowing full well that the grain is nevermore.