Etched Strata

Grit lodges under the fingernails as the scraping tool peels back layers of oxidized copper dust to reveal a spiraling inscription. This pattern mimics the calcified geometry of an ammonite shell, suggesting that any surface is merely a sedimented accumulation of what came before. As the silver mirror warms slightly against the palm, the etched lines begin to trace an autonomous gaze deep within the glass. Each stroke of excavation does not create something new, but instead uncovers a shape that was already waiting in the dark.