a depth of jade

jade is a color
a stone
an exotic name
and a transitive verb meaning make increasingly worldly-weary

time jades us:
the first heartbreak may almost kill us . . .
the dozen dozenth may seem more like punching a time clock
even to the extent of it being a 30-minute break instead of a clockout

puppies no longer delight when we realize that that little fella
is destined to create a volume of byproduct that would fill a dumpster
the while making more of himself to do the same
unless some well-meaning soul atrocitizes his reproductive system

over years we get ragged crisscross psyche-surface scarring
and inside that spheroid of self there are honeycombs of emptiness
here is one of an illusion revealed
here is another of ugliness found in the mirror, or, worse, in despicable actions

and that psyche at the end of the day of the life may well resemble a peppercorn
dry and hardened, brittle, acrid on the tongue
awaiting a grinding into condimental oblivion
or sweeping with the other jetsam into the dustpan

there is a cure for jadedness
and that is the stepping outside of oneself
the ignoring of oneself and the acquisition of a caring for another
some conditions apply but uncondition is transcendent