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]


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