Magenta & Peridot

Magenta & Peridot

by Rose Hunter

Oh but at least I can say
he lured me back with
gemstones. Against the velvet
the magenta spinel, in step cut
baguette, princess and modified
brilliants – magenta is equal
red and blue with the lime removed
and spinel is card tricks
and me trying to figure out how, after
and this, his birthstone, peridot –

I roll over, sponge-like in these words
or thinking of a green bottle washed ashore
inclusions: what they call flaws in a gem

and magenta, he says, it’s one of those
buzz word colours. So now I understand.
The bougainvillea flowers in the driveway
and the gathering hummingbirds.

–refers from the word “magenta” in Laura McCullough’s poem Longing