It's #tbt! Enjoy this great one from SWWIM Every Day's archives!
The band does not form a closed loop. Each end, in a dainty curve, bends like the entrance to a formal garden— two platinum pathways studded with diamond stepping stones— and circles the central diamond, which, set by six small prongs, rises like a modest fountain. She never married, my mother says when she gives it to me. She worked and saved and bought it for herself. It is the day after my mother’s last mammogram; the cancer is gone. It is time to pass on an heirloom. This small splash of light on my finger illumines the room and reflects us. My mother has had three wedding rings of her own. I have had none. A choice few understand. I wonder if Great Aunt Ethel hoped the ring would deflect attention from men. Or was it compensation for a heart that had quietly broken? Was it vanity sparkling on her finger? Or a shield to her pride, conversing in parlors among married women? And what will it be for me? I, who have no daughters or nieces. I keep looking at the facets, wondering. Will these diamonds be returned to the dark from which they came?
Brook J. Sadler, Ph.D. is a poet, writer, and professor of philosophy, who enjoys writing across all genres. Her poems can be found in many journals, including Greensboro Review, Calyx, Kestrel, and Tampa Review, and online at the Cortland Review, South Writ Large, South Florida Poetry Journal, and The Boiler Journal. Her online prose publications include pieces at McSweeney's, Women's Review of Books, Ms. Magazine, and Aquifer.
If you like what we do, please nominate us for your Favorite Lit Mag of 2023 by filling out this form!
12/19 / Meet the Artist with visiting poet-in-residence Kristen Renee Miller / The Library at The Betsy-South Beach, Miami Beach, FL / Live and Live-Streamed on Instagram Live/Facebook Live at @swwimmiami / 6:00 pm EST / Free
12/19 / Poetry Reading with visiting poet-in-residence Kristen Renee Miller + Arsimmer McCoy / The Library at The Betsy-South Beach, Miami Beach, FL / Live and Live-Streamed on Instagram Live/Facebook Live at @swwimmiami / 7:30 pm EST / Free
Are you a SWWIMmer with literary news to share (publication/feature/award/book/book review)? We’d love to shout out your accomplishments in our Weekly Spotlight! Please email swwimmiami@gmail.com. (No DMs on any social media platforms, please.)
Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter/X, and Bluesky for more updates—and visit our website to see past, present, and future readings & events.
**We do our best to preserve the integrity of each poem; however, due to programming limitations, some poems may read differently on a mobile phone and in certain browsers. For best viewing, use Chrome on a desktop/laptop.