Spin the Color Wheel: Emerald

I closed my eyes this morning and spun my imaginary color wheel. (Whrrrrrrrr-ing!) Today it stopped on...

EMERALD.

You know, I read somewhere (and maybe this was in the movie, I can't remember now) that in The Wizard of Oz, Emerald City isn't actually emerald. Everyone is simply wearing emerald-tinted glasses. That threw me. My first thoughts: Does emerald lose its meaning if everything is emerald? Does emerald become the equivalent of black and white? How do people even get dressed in the morning?? WHAT IS THEIR REALITY?! 

Yes, I had a serious mental crisis. And then I turned it into inspiration. Because poetry. Anyway.

Emerald is the deepest, richest, and most calming of the Greens. Cleopatra draped herself in them. The Incas and Aztecs considered them holy stones. Indian holy scripture discuss their healing properties. They were made into cups, embedded into dagger hilts, wrought into fine jewelry, and generally ogled throughout history. The first recorded use of emerald was in 1598. Ireland is often called "The Emerald Isle", and with good reason: from afar the whole island could be an Emerald you might hold cooly in the palm of your hand. There's the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz. And apparently they call Seattle that, too, though this is the first I've heard of it. (Hey, if Seattle can compete with Ireland, I'm there.) When it comes to gemstones, folks call the natural fissures in emeralds "jardin" (garden). Because emeralds are so lovely that their flaws bloom inside them like flowers. 

Without further ado, I give you emerald.

Definition: brilliant green with blue under tones. 

Etymology: from Old French (e(s)meraud), via Latin (smaragdus), via Greek (σμάραγδος (smaragdos; "green gem").

Emerald Eyefull

(source)

(Mughal Emerald necklace: source)

(Emerald Ash Borer: source)

(source)

(Emerald Swallowtail: source)

(source)

(The Emerald Isle: source)

(Emerald City: source)

The Prompt

You are walking down the street, looking at your feet striking the wet pavement. It has recently rained. You can smell the earth around you. No one is really out and about yet. Winter is just now passing, and your neighborhood is showing signs of waking up. But for now, mostly everything is brown. You round the corner, and something catches your eye in the crease of the sidewalk. A small patch of green curling out of the concrete, tendrils waving tentatively at the sun. In their midst, something glints. You pick it up, intrigued. The world goes emerald. 

What happens next? If you're a poet, focus on the imagery. Translate the beginning of this snippet into some concentrated images to set the stage. Then let your poem spiral out of control as the emerald runs its course. If you're a fiction writer, pick up the storyline and run with it. Try not to let this get over three pages and challenge yourself to keep the plot short and sweet. It's an ordinary day, after all.