Jane Routh
Handed Down
Great Aunt Louie had no children. My mother says
she had spare rooms where you could stay,
always wore black and a chatelaine
with a little leather pouch for all her rings.
Lily had the one with two emeralds and a ruby
set with pearls. Ethel’s was opals. My mother got
the turquoises though one of them is green
and should be changed; she passed it on to me.
Because of the way mother complains And you
never wear it, I looked out its tiny heart-shaped box
and tried it on. A perfect fit
but on my right hand an improbable thing.
There were oars in my dream, and close-ups
when I looked at my hands and thought
how long and thin my fingers had been
when I was as young as myself in the dream.
Or maybe I was dreaming Aunt Louie’s hands,
handed down with the yellow gold in the dirt
trapped round the clasps. I have no children
but I have spare rooms, and I am who I dream.
she had spare rooms where you could stay,
always wore black and a chatelaine
with a little leather pouch for all her rings.
Lily had the one with two emeralds and a ruby
set with pearls. Ethel’s was opals. My mother got
the turquoises though one of them is green
and should be changed; she passed it on to me.
Because of the way mother complains And you
never wear it, I looked out its tiny heart-shaped box
and tried it on. A perfect fit
but on my right hand an improbable thing.
There were oars in my dream, and close-ups
when I looked at my hands and thought
how long and thin my fingers had been
when I was as young as myself in the dream.
Or maybe I was dreaming Aunt Louie’s hands,
handed down with the yellow gold in the dirt
trapped round the clasps. I have no children
but I have spare rooms, and I am who I dream.
Jane Routh's Circumnavigation (Smith/Doorstop 2002) won the Poetry Business Book and Pamphlet Competition and was shortlisted for the Forward Prize Best First Collection.
Page(s) 43
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