The Ornament

The Ornament

“First Christmas Together”
the wooden, red-tasseled circle reminds
from its perch on the tree.
“1985.”
My fingers savor the smooth grain
and my heart is transported in memory.
Our “engagement ring”
we called the ornament
with a woven heart at its center.
That December,
Rome had “dispensed” me 
from my vows,
gifting both of us with freedom
to proclaim our love.
That Christmas season,
you dispatched a scrawny pine
from its place on our property.
You were laughing as you dragged it indoors,
your eyes twinkling, your smile broad.
You transformed that pine sapling
when you strung it with lights
and added the blue glass ornaments.
We sat in the descending darkness
holding hands, 
enjoying the lights, the tree,
our first Christmas together--
dreaming of our future.

Thirty-two years later,
my first Christmas without you, 
our “engagement ring”
stirs this sweet memory 
of the beginning of “Us.”

I hold the memory close
and in it, you are here
again.

                      December 12, 2017