The Treasure Within

  A reminder that even the broken pieces carry something precious,

     if we’re willing to see it.

     Focusing in on the collage tucked within the oyster…

     the Birth of Venus,

     so striking and vulnerable,

     standing completely exposed in her shell.

     Isn’t that what we fear most?

     Being seen like this…

     raw, unguarded, and completely ourselves.

     But maybe that’s the pearl:

     not her body, but her vulnerability.

     That’s what’s so beautiful.

Leaning back, hands covered in glue and paint,

smiling at the thought.

“It’s humbling, isn’t it?

This cardboard was meant for the trash.

Now it’s the canvas for a whole new story.

Layers of broken things,

transformed into something whole.

Isn’t that how life works too?

We build a new world,

one layer at a time,

with the pieces we thought were too far gone.”

I place another shard along the edge of the shell.

It’s a slow process, this rebuilding.

But with each piece, we’re reminded:

     there’s treasure here,

     hidden in the cracks.

     Maybe the beauty isn’t in fixing what’s broken

     but in discovering what was always waiting to be found.