Lost Ring Poem by Daniel Trevelyn Joseph

As a child I read Basket of Flowers
The book in which the ring is lost
Leading tothe good maidservant
Being sacked for theft, till the storm
Brings the tree and magpie nest down!

I had this gold ring
The first and only I was ever to have
Babu fitted it on 24th May 1972
In Q/14 Government Estate, Chennai
Near Anna Statue on the Mount Road.
The ring had two diamonds a green
Precious stone in the middle.

Years passed: I enjoyed IAS life
Parents' values of root held on
And I was not interested in money
Or in things: I stopped wearing it
Not on principle or for any reason:
Just like that. Years passed: I forgot.

Last Saturday on 14 January 12, I commented,
'My ring - has it been made into another jewel? '
Promptlyu Tilaka brought it out, and gave.
I tried to wear wouldnt go into ring finger,
So put it on last finger. Remembered a scratch
On green stone and fetched magnifying glass
Couldnt see any defect. Then a blank.

Five days later, it struck me
Came back like a cloud in empty sky.
Where is the ring. Rushed to one room
Or another, pulled out drawers, shelves.
No sign. Rang up wife, smsed daughter...
NO luck. Next day maidservants searched
Everywhere, to no effect.

I am now waiting for storm-tossed sky
And a crow that comes to eat at wife's hands
Every day to let me know -
But novesl dont come down to earth
Not in every case, as you see in the sky.
As they say, Watch this Space!