Basket case

What comes

After all?

So much

stacked

unbeknownst

we carry on

Or perhaps

Was it

Grace?

And then-

How much a

handbasket

Will hold

over so many 

seasons,

weather worn

by hand. 

Painting by Winslow Homer 'Girl Carrying a Basket' c. 1882 in National Gallery of Art, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Standing Ovation

Now we will see 

                         what comes next

by unfurling progression 

                         or Nows in succession.

Pick one,

put it in your pocket,

feel it with your fingers

every now and then,

until its edges smooth,

and you use it for warmth.

This Now could Be

more valuable later, grow on you

by inflation of your reflection,

                        mirroring idea in light,

this is why it startles us 

                        in unexpected color,

a stroke of magenta not man made,

                        Now speechless,

too beautiful to save.

Photo credit By Unknown photo: Mcowkin (Lychakiv Cemetery) [Public domain or CC0], via Wikimedia Commons.