Woodwork

If I could gather all the sadness of the world,

all the sadness inside me

into a gourd,

I’d shake it once in a while

and let it sing,

let it remind me of who I used to be,

bless it for what it taught me

and stare at it lovingly

for not seeping out of its container.

“Woodwork” is from Life in Suspension (Salmon Poetry, 2016).