men who give diamonds to women
like to believe that they possess
a thing of real beauty
a thing of rarest beauty

two point four carats
in, say, a white gold setting
five foot ten blonde
in a silvery charmeuse slip

there is a faith that through diamonds
they’ll finally possess beauty
but that’s the very thing
they don’t possess

the beauty is the light
that reflects, in various wavelengths,
off the surface of the stone
against the cells of your eye

seventy-five hundred angstroms for red
fifty-two hundred angstroms for blue
forty-six hundred angstroms for indigo
that is the beauty of the object

and that is as common
as stars