by Donna Muszynski

Created on: February 22, 2011   Last Updated: October 26, 2011

Broken

I have this expensive, delicate vase I’ve kept in the cabinet for a while now. It’s safe there behind the glass door. I dropped it  years ago for the first time. It broke into many pieces, but I managed to glue them back together. That was when I left it out in the open on a table for everyone to see. How I wanted everyone to see it.

Carelessly handled, it crashed a second time. Into more pieces it fell again. I was able to glue them  back, though it all never truly fit perfectly. Although a precarious place to put it, it went on a shelf. I never planned it would fall again, there, high on a ledge. Somehow, the earth  must have trembled, and down it went once more. Not too many shards this time, just a couple I had to mend haphazardly back into place. I wanted to make sure it would be protected, so I put it in a room hardly used, on an empty dresser. It was cold in there too.

Soon, I did have an unexpected guest that held it and examined all it’s cracks and tiny chips. Asking me why I kept such a beautiful thing hidden away, I explained it was too painful to chance it to another fall. Not to worry my guest said, and held it a long time before it slipped from a solid grip to the tile below. This time, the pieces were so scattered it took several weeks before I could painstakingly  find them and put them back together.  

Full of bumps and glue and scratches, I put it in the cabinet. You can’t see it very well in there, but it’s just as well. I found one side of it that was reasonably put back smoothly, and in the dark of the space it’s in, you can still faintly notice it. It looks okay until you examine it closely. Before you see how damaged it really is. I’m very careful with it now. I only take it out on special occasions.  Like when my granddaughter is here, she thinks it’s beautiful and loves to see it. Someday, perhaps, I will try to polish it up and fill it with daisies and put it back where everyone can see it, breaks and all. Surely, with all that glue it has gotten stronger. Enough to hold the water. Enough to hold the daisies.

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