Calcium Carbonate Art

Cold nights and cool days
Frost dusts the still green lawn 
No guilt in starting a fire in the fireplace 
Then taking out the plastic bags that were stowed away after summer
Listening to the click of calcium shells 

First the pink and soft sunset colored scallops
The skeletons of the animals that used to dance across the ocean floor
And wave silky veils about
Romantic and feminine 

Then the testostorone shapes -- points and defense
This is the shell of the hard sounding named conch
It seems to still have the energy of the animal it once housed
Even though it lost the battle

Then there is the "moon shell"
Does not this one look like a "man in the moon?"
And finally,

 
These are like the capiz shells 
That they make into lamps and hanging art in the Philippines.
Except these are only the size of nickels and quarters

None of the shells above are rare
Tourists spent the mornings crunching thousands of them under their feet
Ignoring their beauty
And failing to know their history
But a few of us who believe in preserving memories
Collected them