Hearting Up

Her life began
in bubbles and brandy,
joining chocolate-caressed strawberries
and velvety lemon sponge cake.

Before she was born,
her senses filled
with sounds
of ancient melodies,
strummed on
ethereal violas and cellos.

And yet,
no kin
may recreate the sounds.

As life arose within her,
emerald English ivy
climbed the walls around her,
trailing in every direction
to shield her infant skin
from the sun's white-hot rays.

The clan, nomadic hunters
of medieval artifacts,
welcomed her arrival
with music and madness,
which soon evolved into revelry
and fairly shook the snow
from the mountains above.

Always seeking
a forbidden secret within,
like a banished boon,
she learned to walk
in the quiet hours of the night.

Somehow, she sensed
the safety in silence.

Her search ended
atop a cracked rock,
beneath the shadow
of a chipped wooden cross.

There,
in the ever-growing darkness,
a single light
penetrated the unseen corners
of her hidden heart.

Family lore
entwined her soul
for years,
as yarns were spun
in colors of truth and falsehood.

Knots and tangles
beckoned her
into the mesh,
but still she struggled
to pull away.

Faded family photographs
boast of unanimous smiles.

Printed memories
belie the buried blames
and swept-up sarcasms
of every act.

Only the glossy images remain.

A string of well-worn pearls
and a tarnished cameo brooch
beg to share
what human flesh cannot.

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Love poetry? Click here to visit Linda Ann Nickerson's poetry and humor blog, Nickers and Ink. And be sure to check out Simply Snickers, a brand-new weekly poetry prompt. Try your own hand at poetry, and come back (to Simply Snickers) to comment with a link to your post.