12 May 2010

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!

14 comments:

Cassiopeia Rises said...

Wow, that was very strong and moving. You have a wonderful way of weaving your words. Well done.

Melanie

Linda Frances said...

I loved the specificity —the diction, the images and the way the poem involved me a a reader.

Linda Frances

flaubert said...

Brenda so many memories in a box. Good post.
Pamela

Mary said...

Wonderful memories, wonderful poem.

Robin said...

Enjoyed this! I also stow away little trinkets, so could relate to reading about someone else's keepsakes, but really, the last stanza was the absolute winner!

brenda w said...

This poem sinks deeper into me each time I read it. It is personal, and it feels good to be accepted by each of you. Thank you for taking the time to read words that flow through me.

Having only recently joined prompt sites, the feedback is almost overwhelming. This is a fun community. I'm happy I got in on the FIRST prompt! It's going to be fun to read all of your words, too.
~Brenda

1965 Footprints said...

Wow, what a box of treasures. Nicely portrayed.

irene said...

Brenda, a lovely way to write about the box of charms, with a Himalayan setting. I like the Wolf's tooth in the series. I used to wear tiger's claw as a charm.

Francis Scudellari said...

A charmed life indeed. So many interesting visuals, and it made me want to dig into each of the stories and learn more.

Paul Oakley said...

Love the way the box is the container of all these charms. Buttons and jewelry and teeth and umbilicords! Like a medicine pouch, contains all, protects against all. Very nice!

neil reid said...

An altitude dizzy high, wildness in small things, lesson in personal geography! I am uniquely impressed, delighted with this poem Brenda. And I adore, am a sucker for "list poems" in any form. I'm gonna remember this one! Small treasures, some so simple as, "IV. A strip of cloth from Manang.//V. My baby’s shriveled dry umbilical cord."

All, very good, beautifully personal. Small histories, nice!

And yes, welcome and thanks for contributing to WWP's first prompt. I hope we see much more from you. ~Neil

Unknown said...

talk radio: that's just sad. those people make even me feel normal.
very nice charms.

angie said...

I love how you did this, each item taking us to a different place, a new thought. great technique.

Raven's Wing Poetry said...

I like how you examine each item in such vivid detail...and how you give us the story behind each little thing. You get a sense of the person and all of their connections through this poem. Well done.

-Nicole