Green Bloom

Up on the highest shelf,

forgotten and remote,

the old copper teapot

had changed itself.

Its gleam had dulled and fled,

replaced by a soft green.

A strange, mossy sheen,

where the bright metal bled.

It looked like slow decay,

a kind of earned repose.

Where the verdigris grows,

and takes the shine away.

A tarnished, quiet grace.

Worth more than its first face.