Luck At the Jeweler’s Shop
© Terry Piggott
Winner, 2026 Boree Log Award, Eastwood Hills Literary Competition, NSW.
We were patiently now waiting for the heat to start abating,
for we need to find some opal and we need to find it soon.
And the way that things are shaping we can see there’s no escaping,
that it’s time to go to work despite the heat this afternoon.
And the place that we’ve selected is an old field once respected,
but has long since been abandoned and it’s called the Jeweler’s Shop.
Yet it means a walk that’s testing with no shade or place for resting,
once you start there’s no relief, you have to battle on non-stop.
So, we started off then dreading walking miles to where we’re heading,
with the stifling heat now beating down upon us as we tramp.
And arrived there spent and weary at this spot that’s hot and dreary,
that had looked so uninspiring, that we wished we’d stayed at camp.
Yet before long picks were swinging and the sounds of shovels ringing,
as we started on a shaft in hope of finding opal there.
Taking turns to do the digging while the other started rigging,
up a rough old canvas shelter as there’s no shade anywhere.
And with both of us soon toiling though the waterbag’s near boiling,
we now swing our picks and shovels into stony rock-hard ground.
And like every shaft we’re sinking soon our minds again start thinking,
this could be the time a parcel of gem opals would be found.
For we never stop believing although looks can be deceiving,
as we often have discovered countless times back in the past.
Yet with each new shaft we’re sinking comes a bout of wishful thinking,
for the flame of hope burns strong and disappointments never last.
Though we started here halfhearted we had barely then got started,
when I unbelievably had struck a tiny opal seam.
It was thin, yet still was showing, brilliant flashing colours glowing
in my shaking hands, while thinking surely this must be a dream.
It’s too thin to get excited knowing hopes could soon be blighted,
yet the colour was exceptional so surely there’s a chance.
That at last our luck was turning after years of hope and yearning,
and a decent find would give a badly needed cash advance.
So, for hours we keep on chasing with our hearts then fairly racing,
as the seam cuts in and out as though it’s taunting us once more.
For although the colour’s pleasing it now seems hell bent on teasing,
disappearing altogether then returning like before.
So, it seemed we might now suffer here, another flaming duffer,
until out of nowhere came a seam of fiery opal there.
With its brilliant colours dancing mesmerizing and entrancing,
making then a special moment for two battling mates to share.
Yet there was no way of knowing – would the opal seam keep going?
always being mindful of that fickle path, we gougers tread.
So, we dug away there hoping with our hearts then barely coping,
as we chased that seam while praying there was plenty more ahead.
For a while it even thickened, and our pulses surely quickened,
as the brilliant colours sparkled in the slowly fading light.
And our pile of gems was growing as the first stars started showing,
so there’s no way we’ll be leaving, we may have to stay all night.
But as quickly as it started soon our dreams of fortune parted,
as the seam then vanished – just another hard luck yarn to tell.
Yet for days we kept on seeking till our backs were fairly creaking,
but at least we had a decent opal parcel now to sell.
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