Hidden Glory

I liked the poem because of the inspiring note + the passion factor.

It is a feeling that Mr and Mrs Fred Richards, of Murrarie, Brisbane, Australia expressed very clearly in the poem in stone which they dedicated to Mr Gan Timur because of his love for agate.

The verse was written by Mrs Edna Richards in praise of Queensland’s beautiful rainbow agate. She calls it ‘Hidden Glory’ and it reads:

A man picked up a stone one day,
While walking beside a stream;
He looked at it, then threw it away,
It chipped and lo! a gleam.
He took it home and studied it,
And saw to his surprise,
That beauty lay beneath its crust;
It was indeed a prize.
When cut through with a diamond saw
A picture did unfold
Of hills and dales, red sunset, too,
A glory to behold.
So, whenever you see an ugly stone,
Don’t pass it by with scorn;
It may contain a treasure trove
Just waiting to be born.

These words now glitter in a panel of blue and gold at the Richard’s home. Each of the 478 letters has been cut and polished from one of a score of different Australian rocks and gemstones. It was a labor of love that took Fred Richards 300 hours. The result combines jasper, agate, chrysoprase, prase, trachyte, rhyolite, petrified wood, common opal, obsidian, onyx, grass stone, aventurine quartz, blue sodalite, tourmaline, rock crystal, amethyst, pitchstone and granite.