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.

http://www.poetrysoup.com/poetry_contest_current_winners.asp