Student Publishing Program ::

Tara Patel

Necklace

To look at, it wasn’t much.

A thin double-stranded necklace,

each string strung

with gold and black beads.

A small, sparkly purple pendant hung at the end

set in fake gold and

surrounded with fake diamonds.

I wore it for weeks after I got it,

the purple pendant shining at everyone I met.

Until one day, it broke,

sending black and gold beads skidding across the floor

like tiny animals, running away.

I got down and picked them up,

knowing in the back of my mind

that it wouldn’t ever be fixed.

It was from my grandfather.

I was always his favorite grandchild,

even though he lived so far away.

I remember him putting it on my neck,

his shaking hands hardly able to close the clasp.

When he died, it was all I had to remember him by,

just a bag of tiny beads

and a sparkly purple pendant.

[TABLE OF CONTENTS, LHS CLASS OF 2011 EDITION]