Written to the prompt J is for Jewellery
This Is The Jewel
This is the jewel you held to the light
To waken its soul for a wide-eyed young child;
You kept me enthralled with your tales of its travels
Through kingdoms fought over by warriors wild.
This gem had been kept in a cave by a wise witch
And countless the times it was borrowed and lent;
Only the valiant knew its true value,
Only the pure of heart knew what it meant.
The jewel, you told me, had trekked scorching deserts,
Braved stormy oceans and crossed foreign lands,
Been traded and stolen by merchants and pirates
Before it came into your caring hands.
The waves it had crested, the ways it was smuggled;
Been gifted by princes, discarded by kings;
It travelled the Silk Road with spices and fabrics –
A bride’s treasure trove of most wonderful things.
Possession of wizards and wanderers, vagabonds,
Payment for debts and a gambler’s last win,
Lost by a goddess and found by a peasant,
Wealth and good fortune, redemption from sin.
Cursed by a demon and saved by a dragon,
Once buried deep in the grave of a queen,
Set in the hilt of a sword for a warlord,
All things and more, this jewel had been.
Treasured by mermaids and plundered by soldiers,
Dug from a mountain top, thrown in the sea;
You knew its history, you knew its secrets;
Unending adventures you spun just for me.
This is the jewel: a coloured glass pendant
You kept wrapped in satin of silver and blue;
And now I unwrap it to show my grandchildren –
I tell them its stories and I tell them of you.
© Carol Carman 2024
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