It is the plain box unadorned and empty
that sits on the floor of the closet in the corner
having purpose but awaiting fulfillment
cardboard boundaries waiting to hold and confine
a universe of possibility full with gifts unbounded
which can take pride in what it is
no desire or need to be clothed in bright wrapping
love can only be seen unclothed
and felt in the naked vulnerability of it's absolute power
and like love this box would be lessened
by any label which would mar it's very being
or be cheapened by ornament
and enveloped by bright wrapping utterly hidden
to scream in the agony of knowing
that when the wrapping is torn away
and the attention focused on some object inside
the box will be missed, forgotten and discarded
love traded for a plastic bauble
and that universe of possibility lost
replaced by an already fading object
and leaving me to wait in dreams
for my gift box


COPYRIGHT 2004 Wild Rabbits/Railway View Music and Publishing © This work is the sole property of the Author (Michael E. Warshaw) and may not be reproduced whole or in any part without the express permission of the Author, Publisher or Forum in which the work appears. ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED