Years ago, I bought a basket,
Plain, unappealing –
Weave already unraveled,
I only paid one dollar –

I set the basket on the shelf,
Separated, secluded –
And there it stood,
Unbefitting the decor –

I filled that basket,
With defeated dreams –
My lonely heart,
My deserted thoughts –

I loaded that basket,
With yearning love –
My unspoken need,
My every want –

I found myself gazing,
Often, in fondness –
A beautiful reminder,
For somber times –

My hands may be empty,
My pockets uninhabited –
Aloneness taking its toll,
Privation draping its veil –

The basket stands proud,
Holding seeds of intangibility –
Unfaltering in its stance,
Draped with valor, still –

This Christmas I give you,
An empty basket –
Weave already unraveled,
All I could afford was a dollar –
____________________
The Empty Basket received 4th place win in the March, 2008 PoetrySoup International Poetry Contest.

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Poetry from From "Chronicles of a Sage: Simple Complexities"