Searching for something shiny

I'm 5 days into a sponsored challenge to walk 100 miles in March. So far I've been walking locally and have come across all sorts of natural treasures. Today I met a detectorist, who was looking for a different sort of treasure.   


I came across a man on hands and knees
Digging deep with a trowel,
In a field where once Romans came
To worship at a temple. 
We talked a while about this and that
Where coins and more had been found
By more professional excavators, 
And all the while he kept on digging 
Until he grasped his quarry -  a modern piece of metal.
Disappointment for him reduced me to commonplace:
Never mind, keep on, you never know.
Walking on, looking back after a polite distance,
I saw his swishing detector play across the field
Searching for something shiny. 

© Copyright 2021. Chris Auger. All Rights Reserved

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