By Abby Berman Mazenod
you were never really mine
your paper beads of turquoise blue
and some of glass the color of brass
and the color of silver teeth
you were made far away
a gift by delicate hands
in the ache of the sun
in the ache of the sand
and when you were mine
i believed you were mine
but there is no mine, no yours
there is always only ours
and though someone thinks that they have theirs
which I seemed to think was also mine
it will really only ever be ours
ours, and whoever it touches next
your fragile clasp refused to hold on
I knew you wouldn’t stay mine for long
but that was your gift, your intent
to be in the world, and feel the world, and feel the ones who live in it.
(Just a note: I was very inspired by something someone once told me about losing jewlery. They said that when you lose a piece of jewlery, it is meant to be lost. Whatever the reason, that token was needed by someone else in that moment more than you. It also reminded me of the connectedness with others that I am striving for in my own life, and made me feel like this little bracelet that I lost can maybe brighten someone else’s day.
The bracelet itself was made by women in Northern Uganda and sold by 31 Bits.)
Xoxo -Abby