Things In A Box Poem by Laura Grace
Laura Grace is a Mass Communications Major, avid gardener, poetry writer, photographer, and wife & mother of two daughters and a pet bird.
THINGS IN A BOX , Poem
My stepfather said once that
she keeps everything because
she grew up with nothing...
he was wise, but after his demise
things, and things kept piling up
walls of useless old boxes
created shadows that kept all the light
from coming in, mountains
of old photographs yellowed and wilted
with images of forgotten memories
of a life that was never lived,
she didn’t know what she was searching for
so she kept everything she found
to fill her soul with what she never had,
but those things you can’t touch...
she kept looking for answers
without asking the right questions,
she searched in all the wrong places
trash and clutter filled the spaces
of her broken heart, but with emptiness
to look inside herself no one taught her
longing for more, she kept more boxes
of promises that were never kept,
she had nothing…
but thought she could have everything
In boxes and boxes
that turned out to be empty
looking for something that she couldn’t see
found only in the calm of looking within,
she was a prisoner of her own fixation
she traded the living for the inanimation
rather to give, she became a master
at keeping
making her poorer instead of enriching her,
things in a box were never enough
to fulfill her life, but she didn’t know…
by Laura Grace
Comments
Laura Grace (author) from Tampa, Florida on August 05, 2019:
Thank you Mark for stopping by and reading my poem. Hoarding is indeed an accumulation of emptiness, a very sad illness that inspired me to write this poem.
Mark Tulin from Ventura, California on August 05, 2019:
Nice, Laura. You’ve captured the emptiness of hoarding.
Laura Grace (author) from Tampa, Florida on July 27, 2019:
Thank you Shannon for your kind words, I’m so happy you stumbled upon my poem and decided to follow, means a lot.
Laura Grace (author) from Tampa, Florida on July 27, 2019:
Thank you Lorna. It is based on the scenario you described sadly inspired by the affliction suffered by a close relative.
Shannon Henry from Texas on July 27, 2019:
I opened this poem quite by accident when I bumped my phone. But wow! I'm so glad I did. Your poetry is very emotive. I don't come around HP as much as I used to, but I'm going to make sure I'm following you.
Lorna Lamon on July 27, 2019:
In reading this thought provoking poem I was reminded of people who hoard in order to fill an empty void or to protect themselves, and very often this need stems from childhood. I always enjoy reading your poems Laura.
Laura Grace (author) from Tampa, Florida on July 26, 2019:
Thank you Brenda for taking the time to read my poem.
BRENDA ARLEDGE from Washington Court House on July 26, 2019:
Such a sad poem to be searching for years but not finding the answer.
I suppose this is how a hoarder starts accumulating stuff....searching for something.
But if we all look around, we all probably have boxes filled with stuff that is meaningless, faded, and of no use to us now.
Good read.