Letter from a Locket

Molly Taft

Dear Molly,

Before you were born, there was a man with a deep voice and calloused hands who met a lady with hair like yours and eyes like the mist on a stormy shore.

He picked me from a market stand and held me close in the palm of his hand. A heart shaped locket that reads her name with a picture of him, for when he goes away.

And at the station, men wave goodbye. So proud of their preeminent sacrifice. From the windows of trains, they call to their wives and pray to God for the sake of their lives.

My clasps connect around her neck. He drifts off into the bustling crowd. She stands still, now he is only a speck among the hundreds gathered ‘round.

The engine makes a loud chug and the horn goes from loud to quiet. She opens my heart with a little tug to see his picture closed inside it.

The letters inside of me spell forever. A reminder that he will return one day. But one year later, she received a letter. He was found washed ashore near the bay.

So quickly she tears me off of her neck, And locks me inside of her dresser drawer.

I listen to her crash like a car in a wreck Spinning out like never before.

She used to wear me day and night. But now I’m a secret never to be told. She married a man of good birthright, She traded me in for pearls and gold. But before she died just days ago, I saw light for the first time in seventy years. She opened my heart and looked at her beaux. “Forever” she reads and sheds a few tears.

And in her will, she gave me to you. But removed her love’s picture from my heart. As any good grandmother would want to do, She gave the next Molly a fresh start.

So please, treat me well, and don’t lock me away. No need for a picture of a man that can’t stay. To wear me is to love me, to keep me from rust. I can hold all your secrets, I just need your trust.

Sincerely,

Your Locket