Taking Heart

Taking Heart


The scroll work was fine 
But faded with time
Her fingers had burnished
The delicate from the design
The impression of her worry
Had left its mark upon the metal
Holding on to hope 
Taking heart for a safe return


Words: ©2019LCR
Image: No Claim (WWII Royal Canadian Air Force Sweet Heart Pendant)
Real Toads Prompt: One Word - Burnished

Comments

  1. Removing the delicate from the design .... holding onto the delicate feels right. I enjoyed this.

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  2. Removing the delicate, but then lasting love isn't typically delicate.

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  3. Hard-won wear is a good thing, and so is this poem!

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  4. Oh, fantastic. Thanks so much for this precious poem.

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  5. I love what you did here, the finger burnished heart... it does show how much courage you can draw from a precious token.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you yes. It becomes a sort of touchstone.

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  6. ...the delicate from the design. Just beautiful.

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  7. Everything burnished, polished, does not all make it better. But it does leave the mark of one who did the job.
    I liked it, Lori, I think you had a meaning that I did not pick up.
    ..

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    1. I think you've gotten the feeling of it. This write is one where both words and picture are needed to tell the story. I had Remembrance Day in mind when I saw the prompt word. Imagine, a soldier giving this pendant to his girlfriend before he goes off to war. He is symbolically leaving his heart in her hands. While he is away she wears the pendant and rubs it with her fingers every time she thinks of him, wishing for his safe return. She does this so often she rubs away most of the design. To “take heart” is to remain positive. At the end of the piece you do not know whether or not he has returned. All we are left with is a hope that shines.

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  8. "The impression of her worry
    Had left its mark upon the metal"

    Love that line...It became more than a trinket...

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