Woodwork

by Hélène Cardona

If I could gather all the sadness of the world,
all the sadness inside me

into a gourd,

I’d shake it once in a while
and let it sing,

let it remind me of who I used to be,
bless it for what it taught me

and stare at it lovingly

for not seeping out of its container.

This poem was previously published in the multi-award-winning poetry collection by Helene Cardona entitled Life in Suspension (Salmon Poetry 2016):