Estate Jewelry

By Eric Rozenman (March 2024)

They glittered, not the alluring sparkle
Of gems under jewelry store lights
But still, enough twinkle in that dim room
To hint at love warm
The lovers long gone
Grandchildren selling the house.
Still, there they were
Locked in a glass case
On a green felt-covered table
An engagement ring elegant in simplicity
A princess-cut diamond, one-carat weight
In platinum, flanked by quarter-carat diamonds
On each side, rays from every facet
Sparks of old love, old lovers.
A set of earrings, small dangling circles
Of diamond chips in silver
And a gold necklace with a ruby delicately encircled
By a playfully enameled collar.
Playful, these diadems, trinkets, adornments
Of a man’s passion and
A woman’s endorsement
Or so it seemed, so the rays twinkled
Tiny lights winking silently.
Who will wear them now
And in what spirit?
People wander through the house
Sixty years old and no longer stylish
Sturdy furniture dated
Carpets worn by years of feet
Large and small, passing
A real estate agent asks herself
Is this place worth a remodel
Or is it a knock-down?
A man stares at the jewelry
And tears come to his eyes.
He tells himself unconvincingly he does not know why.

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Eric Rozenman is author of Jews Make the Best Demons: “Palestine” and the Jewish Question (2018, New English Review Press) and From Elvis to Biden, Eyewitness to the Unraveling; Co-Starring Nixon, Warhol, Clinton, The Supremes and Obama! (Academica Press). 

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