Saturday, April 16, 2016

Ananya Chatterjee writes

Flint


Dormant, we lie
Cold and blind
In the darkness of
our matchbox lives
Waiting for firm fingers
To lift us to light
And set us ablaze
Turn by turn

I crouch and hide
just outside
the rectangular realms
of the Known
If I have to meet
my end in fire
I would rather be
a forest flint
Carelessly born..
Jagged and proud..
Reckless and rare..

 Image result for flint fire images

6 comments:

  1. Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. (From a petrological point of view, "flint" refers specifically to the form of chert which occurs in chalk or marly limestone, while "chert" occurs in limestone.) Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown and has a glassy or waxy appearance; a thin layer on the outside of the nodule is usually of a different color, typically white, and has a rough texture. Flint might be the result of chemical alterations in compressed sedimentary rock formations during diagenesis (any chemical, physical, or biological change undergone by a sediment after its initial deposition during and after lithification [rock formation], except weathering [surface alteration] and metamorphism). Flint was used to make tools during the Stone Age, since it splits into thin, sharp splinters (flakes or blades) when struck by another hard object. A hard flint edge can produce sparks when struck against steel (or iron pyrite) since it shaves off a particle that exposes iron, which reacts with oxygen in the air. However, flint should not be exposed to excessive heat since it may fracture, sometimes violently. Flint has also been used with lime mortar to build stone walls, perhaps combined with stone or brick rubble.Until recently it was an important raw material in clay-based ceramics, and flint pebbles are still used as the media in ball mills to grind glazes and other raw ceramics materials; reddish pebbles, indicating high iron content, are discarded, but the blue-grey ones are less deleterious to the color of the ceramic composition after firing.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for sharing such a detailed description of the fascinating piece of rock!

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  2. I especially like this poem. "...the rectangular realms of the Known..." Bravo. Well done.

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