navwin » Archives » Open Poetry #12 » The Ring
Open Poetry #12
Post A Reply Post New Topic The Ring Go to Previous / Newer Topic Back to Topic List Go to Next / Older Topic
Mysteria
Deputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Laureate
since 2001-03-07
Posts 18328
British Columbia, Canada

0 posted 2001-03-07 06:07 PM





~*~ THE RING ~*~

On the small finger of my right hand,
I wear a plain band of simple gold.
It’s been many years since I put it on,
And here is the story I wish to be told.

This band was given as a vow of love
By my Grampa to Gramma, oh so many years ago,
She wore it 74 years of her loving life,
As a token of their love, so all would know.

I was a child of 8, when Gramma was dying,
She gave me her ring on a chain, so it would be seen.
She said I would be the only one who would cherish it,
Little did I know what that ring would come to mean.

She told me Grampa had no money for that ring,
So when she was only 17, she sold locks of her hair.
In those days, you got whatever you could,
By whatever means that were there.

Well my Gramma died and I treasured that ring,
And always wore the chain and held it close to my heart,
Somehow holding onto that little gold band,
Made me secure, like we never really did part.

As I grew, one day I slipped the ring on my finger,
And each year another finger it found to fit,
But I never, ever took that little gold band off,
I just loved, and cherished it.

Finally it got to tight for my ring finger,
I took it to a jeweler to have him make it fit.
He told me something that day, and I cried,
There was an inscription inside the ring and this was it ~

~*~ Love is a never ending circle, and our love has just begun,
It will last forever or until, the day this band is none! ~*~

I had been wearing that ring over 40 years,
And never even bothered to look inside,
I began to wonder in the box she gave me,
What others secrets therein might hide.

I got the box down from the shelf,
With anticipation, I could hardly wait.
I began searching through letters, poems,
Pictures, in such an excited emotional state.

What I found next stopped my heart like a clock,
There in rice paper folded with a little blue bow,
Was a note from my Grampa with some locks his hair,
Saying” I Love You” with a funny little “i.o.u. note.”

In his handwriting was a little note,
That my Gramma had sealed with a kiss,
And on that old parched piece of paper,
He had written her this:

~*~Love is a never ending circle, and our love has just begun,
It will last forever or until, the day this band is none! ~*~

I've worn this ring on my finger for 40 years,
And so the circle has never been broken,
As you can see, love is what she left to me,
And her precious ring was just a token.

~*~ They do live on ~*~

I thought of this the other today and it is in loving memory of my Gramma, the only one thing that was any good about my childhood. She is the person who taught me to rhyme. May her circle never be broken. By the way she lived to her 90's and they were married 72 years before my Grampa died! Good genes I hope!



~*~A poet is someone who reads more than they write ~*~

© Copyright 2001 Mysteria 1997 - All Rights Reserved
Lone Wolf
Member Ascendant
since 2000-03-16
Posts 5842
Lansing, MI USA
1 posted 2001-03-07 07:39 PM


Mysteria,

This was a lovely story. I am sure you will cherish the ring until your time comes to pass it on. My mother died eight years ago and I have her wedding ring. It is the one thing of hers that means the most to me because I know it meant the most to her. She wore it for 42 years. It reminds me of her, but it also has renewed my faith in love for what it represents. I really enjoyed this.

Lone Wolf


Poetry should surprise by fine excess...it should strike the reader as a wording of his own highest thoughts and appear almost a remembrance. -J.Keats

Bill Charles
Member Patricius
since 2000-07-11
Posts 10619
highways, & byways, for now
2 posted 2001-03-07 09:46 PM


Mysteria - I am so glad that I stopped to read this writing of yours. This is so very precious, and your Gramma must have meant a great deal to you over the years. Memories, how they haunt one, but the happy ones are the ones most cherished.

BC

suthern
Deputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Seraphic
since 1999-07-29
Posts 20723
Louisiana
3 posted 2001-03-08 10:26 AM


This is very beautiful... and a testament that true love never dies because it's passed along and cherished in memories. *S* Welcome to Passions!
Mysteria
Deputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Laureate
since 2001-03-07
Posts 18328
British Columbia, Canada
4 posted 2001-03-08 06:29 PM


I really want to thank you all for such a warm welcome to Passions, I can feel such a group "hug" here, and appreciate your support in my work. I shall try to get to reading all of you eventually, and look forward to that most.
Mother_Earth
Senior Member
since 2000-11-20
Posts 1370
1/2 year Texas & 1/2 year Michigan
5 posted 2001-03-11 09:09 PM


Mysteria, this is a most beautiful rememorance from you Grandma and Grandpa. Such love for you to pass on one day. Love your work and welcome to Passions. Hugs, ME
Katherine Chandler
Member
since 2001-03-07
Posts 280
Florida, USA
6 posted 2001-03-11 09:17 PM


I love this story because it reinforces how much love means through the generations. I know you treasure the memories of your Gramma and I'm sure you loved you dearly.. hugs always, Kate


Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood.
T S Eliot

Mysteria
Deputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Laureate
since 2001-03-07
Posts 18328
British Columbia, Canada
7 posted 2001-03-11 09:26 PM


MotherEarth (your name suits you) just read a poem of yours...thank you for reading this, as I explained to some in email that ring also got lost 4-5 times that we are aware of and made it back to her hand, simply amazing.

Kate: Yes, you of anyone know she was the only one loving thing I had when I was young, and taught me to rhyme on napkins at the kitchen table, I think of her every day, and she her in Tori (my Granddaughter) so they do live on.

~*~A poet is someone who reads more than they write ~*~

Temptress
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-06-15
Posts 7136
Mobile, AL
8 posted 2001-03-11 09:52 PM


Exquisitely touching, Mysteria. I am enjoying your work more every day, and I love the fact that the poem wasn't what I expected it to be.

serenity blaze
Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738

9 posted 2004-05-18 10:22 PM




"Now that you're gone,
all that's left is band of gold.
All that's left of the dreams I hold
is a band of gold
and the memories
of what love could be
when you were
still here with me..."




Post A Reply Post New Topic ⇧ top of page ⇧ Go to Previous / Newer Topic Back to Topic List Go to Next / Older Topic
All times are ET (US). All dates are in Year-Month-Day format.
navwin » Archives » Open Poetry #12 » The Ring

Passions in Poetry | pipTalk Home Page | Main Poetry Forums | 100 Best Poems

How to Join | Member's Area / Help | Private Library | Search | Contact Us | Login
Discussion | Tech Talk | Archives | Sanctuary