Today's poem is by Jianqing Zheng

The Poor House of Ours
       

Collectibles shouldn't be kept till the last breath
because whatever belongs to this house
must be discarded or disowned before death.

Shelves of books that are like dried-up brooks,
two embroidered cats that are our soulmates,
albums of collected stamps, albums of great blues,

a fossil resembling the shape of the MS Delta,
a Red Plum 120-film camera bought
for our Shanghai honeymoon. Life isn't a guelta

for afterlife but a process from incarceration
to liberation. So, we need to empty
our house before we arrive at our destination,

but one thing I can't empty is my heart for you,
a seed to plant when we get there for a life new.

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from duality
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission