Menna Elfin is a leading Welsh-language writer. She is grateful to her translators who have enabled her to write solely in the Welsh language, nestling under its eaves (“bondo”), while being “able to roam far and wide in English” too.

THE RING

   1

Mined, refined.

   2

Though purified,

formed,

a lock for  two fingers,

hand to hand,

their destiny.

  3

In our long-haired days

we’d scoff at holy rites,

the flaunting flash of a ring,

signing a life away

to another,

we’d mock at anniversaries,

proud celebrations,

remember the morning after,

~

and though we had our blessed day

before witnesses,

the little ring returned to its closed box,

just a jewel, a keepsake.

~

Today we look at it

after forty years,

our fingers tighten,

and we touch hands,

laugh at ourselves.

      4

What gold ring can measure

the hidden fingerprints

of a life?