The appraiser holds the ring to the light and turns it carefully towards us: see, here, where one of the smaller stones fell out and was replaced by a cheaper one. Under the microscope he looks for flaws, stands the diamond in in a lineup of greater and lesser gems. For the final assay, he scratches the shank into a pane of smoky glass, white line etching the polished pane. He drops a clear bead onto the glass and with the tip of the bottle draws acid across the scratch. Whether metal dissolves tells you it’s worth. We wait: time and damage the only proof.
K. T. Landon is the author of 'Orange, Dreaming' (Five Oaks Press, 2017) and received her MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her work has appeared in Narrative, North American Review, Spillway, and Best New Poets. She is a reader for Lily Poetry Review.
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