RING OF RESONANCE

inside the small shop of used goods,
on shelves, in cases of consignment
or for pawning,
a woman owner and one customer
besides the two of us—
who buys my old unused
engagement ring, symbol of love lost
years and years ago,
and time who turned around unseen corners
or barely hinted at through fog
of need,
the scripted unlived hopes of family formation,
now the ring is black
and she purchases it for her lover..

.. and where and who is he I ask in silence?..

The darkened ring hides pure gold I know.
The new owner, ignorant of the unseen beauty,
allows me to scrape and bring forth the shine inside,
scraps and flecks of midnight ash fall off
as bright metal shows itself
almost new, hopeful, ready for their
engaged committed life ahead.

And oh, the thought—‘how much my share
of the price she paid?’—
as money takes its prescribed part.

We walk out and down this street,
closing doors behind us.
Steps lighten as a welcoming of new stories
begins, a felt relief, this wholeness,
this ring of closure, an encircling tale
all loss and gain must eventually tell
in life and in dream.