Empty

"Maybe it's true that you can use up all of your tears. Maybe Grandma's right about that. It was nice to think about because what I wanted was to be empty." (pg. 291)

Johnathan Safran Foer Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

EMPTY as a vase

What once was filled with beauty now sits empty on the shelf up there

EMPTY as a cookie jar

When before you reached for something sweet, now all you find is air.

EMPTY as a coffee mug

The contents once piping hot

Tilt back the mug to take a drink

But liquid there is not

EMPTY as a piggy bank

Once rattled with the sounds of change

EMPTY as my pocketbook

The color green looks strange

EMPTY as a birds nest

No little chicks that call it home

EMPTY is the dying garden

No potent roses, nor a trace of a miniture garden gnome

EMPTY like an envelope

A letter it once enclosed

EMPTY like a king sized bed

A couple no longer there to doze

EMPTY like a pair of sneakers

What once tied up his stinky feet

EMPTY is the music room

For no one is able to find the beat

EMPTY is the canvas

No picture perfect scene

EMPTY are the pages of her book

The author unable to write a thing

EMPTY is the lamp

No light bulb to illuminate the room

EMPTY is the dustpan

For they are unable to find the broom

EMPTY is the pond

No fish to swim upstream

EMPTY is the teakettle

No boiling hot water to make it steam

EMPTY are the box of crayons

The bright colors have all been replaced

EMPTY is the nights sky

No shooting star, no full moon, nothing but an empty dark space

EMPTY is my heart

No heartbeat you will find

EMPTY like the Tin Man who desires a heart

And the Scarecrow who longs for a mind

EMPTY is my soul

No feeling of joy nor sadness

EMPTY is my smile

No trace of love, laughter or gladness

EMPTY are my eyes

For I've cried out all my tears

EMPTY is what I am

For the pain I've endured throughout the years

EMPTY is what I want to be

No feelings good or bad

For when I'm EMPTY as I am

At least I cannot feel sad. -- Andrea Bucci written March 1, 2010