Part of the everyday object series
You are the diamond of every day,
but in leaky containers you're stored away.
You slumber 'neath mountains, float in the sea,
Too much of you kills, too little equally,
It's not your glimmer, nor smell I desire,
but a day without you is bland entire.
What is this diamond of every day?
The lyrical identity could be any person.
Perhaps you are
salt.
You are the diamond of every day,
Salt forms crystals, albeit not of the same shape as the crystals we call diamonds.
but in leaky containers you're stored away.
You probably have such a container in your kitchen right now. Though "leaky" is a bit of a weak point; the containers generally leak only by design.
You slumber 'neath mountains, float in the sea,
Rock salt and sea salt.
Too much of you kills, too little equally,
Without salt we would die (this is the main way it's bad if you drink waaaaay too much water). With too much, too.
It's not your glimmer, nor smell I desire,
Salt crystals aren't particularly shiny, and they have no smell at all.
but a day without you is bland entire.
But the taste of salt is pleasing and without it lots of foods would taste bland.
I kinda liked
Fresh water
You are the diamond of every day
Fresh water is metaphorically diamond like (exceedingly valuable in an absolute sense, also sparkly, crystal clear)
but in leaky containers you're stored away.
Aquifers leak. As do reservoirs, rivers and bloodstreams and glands in living bodies. Its kinda hard to find fresh water in places that aren't leaky containers.
You slumber 'neath mountains,
Fresh water can be trapped underground, especially under impervious rock.
... float in the sea,
It's lighter than salt water so it floats in salt water, especially in the form of icebergs.
Too much of you kills, too little equally,
Yes. Obvious is obvious ;)
It's not your glimmer, nor smell I desire,
Its the water itself, not its appearance or non-scent, one desires, when you want a drink.
but a day without you is bland entire.
The world becomes "bland" entirely, when too thirsty... and a day without anything to drink is enough to make one very thirsty.
Is this
Oxygen?
You are the diamond of every day,
It’s a big part of every one of my days, because of breathing.
but in leaky containers you're stored away.
Oxygen can be stored in tanks, which either leak accidentally or purposefully, the second type is used for underwater breathing.
You slumber 'neath mountains, float in the sea,
There are oxygen bubbles probably trapped in magma underneath mountains, and oxygen bubbles float to the surface of the sea.
Too much of you kills, too little equally,
Love is like oxygen...you get too much you get on high, not enough and you’re gonna die... (oxygen toxicity/hyperoxia is a real medical problem that isn’t pleasant; hypoxia means you have nothing to breathe; either kills).
It's not your glimmer, nor smell I desire,
Oxygen doesn’t have a glimmer or smell.
but a day without you is bland entire.
Because you’d probably die.
