ACCUSTOMED, CERMONIOUS
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| The Little Treasure Chest
Władysław Czachórski (1850 – 1911) Polish artist and master of rendering luxury fabrics and jewelry |
MORE PRECIOUS JEWELS . . .
Jewels in my Hand
I hold dead friends like jewels in my hand
Watching their brilliance gleam against my palm
Turquoise and emerald, jade, a golden band
All ravages of time they can withstand
Like talismans their grace keeps me from harm
I hold dead friends like jewels in my hand
I see them standing in some borderland
Their heads half-turned, waiting for my arm
Turquoise and emerald, jade, a golden band
I'm not afraid they will misunderstand
My turning to them like a magic charm
I hold dead friends like jewels in my hand
Turquoise and emerald, jade, a golden band
By Sasha Moorsom (1931-1993)
Written shortly before she died of cancer
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| Lady With Jewels (1890) ~ Władysław Czachórski
[The green jewelry box appears in all three paintings: here, above, and below] |
Post-War
In France there was some heirloom jewellery,
Smuggled and hidden in the Nazi years,
Now found again and mostly ownerless.
It crouched inside my palm as family
Survivor. I recognised the bracelet
And the ring, Victorian brooches set in
Filigree with weeping rubies. Secret
Histories escaping in a tin
From gas and ash, divorced from neck and arm,
The warmth that cradled them in Kaiser's time
Or later in the 20s decadence.
Now, in this island's twilight, life or chance
On certain days will bring these items out
To give them air, to mourn, to celebrate.
Lotte Kramer (b 1923)
Written in recollection of her parents, lost in the Holocaust
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| The Letter (1896) ~ Władysław Czachórski |
Next Fortnightly Post ~ More jewels to come!
Wednesday, June 14th
Between now and then, read
THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com
Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com
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