the box of chocolates

He always knew where he had been, and he remembered

The box elder in the fence post, looked down on men

Who couldn't see the storm coming.  He's learned

To live with the way his bait went deeper.

My mother kept her spirits high with little jobs.

He bought her a heart-shaped box of chocolates

Once a year. One life, one woman,

That was God's rule, and he didn't like it much.

~ Robert Bly

from Talking into the ear of a Donkey

photo by Shreve Stockton