Empty Boxes

Art by Madi Albanese

Restless hands carry too much to handle,
empty Boxes that used to hold so much more at one time.

This one has little stars on it, 
another has patterns of sparkling apples. 

Beautiful packages that once held beautiful things,
they stack One, Four, Twelve at a time,
(Depending On The Day)
the cases on top typically swing and fall to the ground,
they’re all a bit beaten up.

People stop and ask me about Them,
why I have Them, what’s in Them, if I need a hand getting Them to where I’m taking Them,
I blush and say “I’m sorry, I have to get going,”
so I don’t have to tell them I don’t know where I’m going.

I tried asking at first if anyone could take a few,
just for a few minutes while I changed my socks, had some coffee, maybe something quick to eat,
but then I had Three Hundred boxes, and I needed a carriage to pull them.

Sometimes I forget what used to be in Them,
I spend weeks holding Them, 
trying to remember what I’m looking for to put back inside of Them.

Lost for so long they won’t be mine anymore once I find Them,
whatever it was that once filled these boxes,
whatever it was that made them worth carrying.