Thread: "Sister Ruby's Pearls"

Passing around souvenirs of our life, in class
In a big white room,
Treasures from another life
Treasures from another’s life

Prayers and pearls
Attached in affinity to yellowed twine
Climb up am down like a ladder
Or a staircase, like the winding petals of a rose

The value of each pearl
Weighed in the unceasing commitment of the hand that held them
Each small orb representing the days of once endless companionship
(and it’s a long strand)
but not near long enough to count the days

there is a knot at the bottom
but not quite at the end
from its gentle closure there are
loops
hanging from the love she left behind

I like the idea that Sister Ruby's necklace reveals something of her life but didn't I didn't feel I really got a good picture of her and her story, only that the pearls were on a yellow thread with a knot at the bottom and loops. I want to feel the love that is attached to the pearls and I didn't.

Passing around souvenirs of our life, in class
In a big white room, ..what is the importance of the classroom being white?
Treasures from another life
Treasures from another’s life ...feels repetitive

Prayers and pearls
Attached in affinity to yellowed twine
Climb up am down like a ladder
Or a staircase, like the winding petals of a rose ..I like the image of the winding petals of a rose but that is very different to a ladder or a staircase unless spiral. Better to have one strong image than conflcting ones.

The value of each pearl
Weighed in the unceasing commitment of the hand that held them
Each small orb representing the days of once endless companionship ..how do the pearls express this?
(and it’s a long strand)
but not near long enough to count the days

there is a knot at the bottom
but not quite at the end ..what is the significance of the knot not being quite at the end?
from its gentle closure there are
loops
hanging from the love she left behind

I feel that this is a rosary. I went to Catholic school and that's what this says to me. If I see it in that light, it makes more sence.

Do they make rosaries with pearls? I'm not a Catholic, nor Christian.

Rosaries are made from all kinds of things. I was a forced Catholic. Now I have my own faith and it does not include the Catholic Church.

Very sensible

Thanks for the response shadows, the reason this poem feels disconnected is because I never knew sister Ruby, she was a story from my classmate. I wrote the poem for her, and unfortunately, I didn't get to hold the pearls very long. I will take your suggestions and try and work this poem into a better shape. I don't think it was a rosary though, it was a really really long strand with pearls revolving around it.

Oh, and the significance of the knot not at the end is that her death was not the end. The smaller pearls hanging down with love are the people she left behind.