She peers inside her jewel-box once more <br />But sees beyond the riches that it holds: <br />The dazzling diamond brooches may dismay <br />And sparkling sapphire clusters fail to satisfy. <br />Even emeralds, once elegant, are evanescent now <br />And gold has lost its glamour, silver’s shed its sheen <br />But, still, inside that casket hide more precious gems: <br />Though it has faded and has lost its mate, like her, <br />That single pendant earring with that artificial pearl <br />Brings memories of days long gone when first they met <br />Before they wed when, at the village post office, <br />He drew the entire contents of his savings book <br />To pay the pawnbroker for trinkets in the sale. <br />And other treasures soon transpire beneath the fluff <br />That has accumulated in the grimy depths: <br />A twisted, battered bracelet that her mother always wore <br />And that baby-tooth near disintegrating now <br />That was her first-born’s. Why does he never ring? <br />But then, that doesn’t matter, as she fondly smiles <br />And closes down the tattered tortoiseshell lid <br />And pats the peeling lacquer one more time <br />Protecting irreplaceable possessions deep within.<br /><br />C Richard Miles<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/treasured-memories/
