Author Information
what's in the basket
Folder:
bridging poems
"What’s in the Basket"
A shopping basket,
plastic ribs creaking under the weight of
bread, bruised pears,
a receipt already curling like a prophecy.
A picnic basket,
woven willow,
ants rehearsing their procession
before the lid is even lifted.
A laundry basket,
shirts collapsed into themselves,
socks pairing and unpairing
like quarrelsome lovers.
A gift basket,
cellophane taut as a drum,
ribbons rehearsing their unraveling,
the promise of sweetness
before the first hand reaches in.
And the others—
the bicycle basket with its wobbling cargo of letters,
the wastebasket swallowing drafts and
half-thoughts,
the cradle-basket rocking a child
between waking and dream.
Each vessel asks the same question:
what do you carry,
and what will you leave behind
when the handles slip from your hands?
.
