THE WAY SPOONS REST IN A DRAWER

 

When he lost his job,

he saw stars in the smallest things –

in the shine of the streetlights,

in the sparkle of his mechanical pencil,

in the small poems he wrote.

He saw that all things in his life

flow from far away,

even the flowered skirt

the woman at the grocery store was wearing.

He knew that her task was to brighten lives

with her colorful clothes,

and his was to notice stars,

and the way papers sit peacefully in a trash can,

and the way spoons rest in a drawer.