Charmed Life

Ida’s silver plated box
sits heavy in my hand.
Life’s charms
mingle inside.

The Charms

I.
A tooth hardened
by time, a cud chewer,
found near the
rock housed Himalayan
village of Manang.
Petrified yak tooth?

II.
A three eyed dzi bead
traded with a smiling
Manang woman
for a bracelet made
when I was ten.

The people of Manang build every
home of stone.
They stand on flat roofs
hair blowing time with prayer flags.
Necks anchor colorful scarves that
brighten the chorus against austerity.

III.
A picture of a people
dark hair dark eyes,
smiling at ll,548 feet
clothing the color of houses
pockets and necks lined with
vibrant red, green, yellow, orange, blue, purple stripes.

IV.
A strip of cloth from Manang.

V.
My baby’s shriveled dry umbilical cord.

VI.
My great grandmother’s
gold plated locket, that she
gave me before she passed.
On its fifty cent sized front a brass
question mark inlays.
On back, someone
engraved Ida.
Inside remains empty.

VII.
A two-root tooth
unearthed
in Grizzly Gulch.
Young woman, me
floating through forest
barefoot and skirted,
flowers in my hair.

Wolf’s tooth
wrapped in leather
hung round my neck.

IIX.
Tim One’s ring
that I thought I’d wear forever
made from liquid spoons and
a small jade cabochon that
houses a piece of his soul.

IX.
Three large thin abalone buttons
shell still clinging to their
backside.

X.
A single earring Little Bird
crafted at the confluence
of the Swan and
Mission Mountains.

XI.
A silver and amethyst
locket that carries an angel
sent by an Internet stranger
to keep me safe
when my world
swirls down through
insomniac insanity,
and the only
thing that makes me
feel normal is listening
to humans call Art Bell
at 3 a. m. on talk radio to discuss
bizarre experiences
with alien life forms.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shout out to We Write Poems for the prompt that had me exploring my own charmed life!