The Dresser Poem by Ryan Lee Morris

I stare at the beautiful dresser, and I reflect.
I remember the day it arrived.
Freshly stained, and polished.
Completely empty, waiting to be filled.
I remember the smell of its newness.
Drawers gliding smoothly,
Opening and closing with ease.
Years pass, and more items placed inside.
Never removing the old, to make room for the new.
Cramming the drawers, full.
The bottoms come undone,
The glides buckling from the weight.
The scratches and dents from the abuse of others.
Falling apart.
It is too beautiful to discard.
The restoration begins.
I remove and discard the old items.
I have no use for them now,
As I have outgrown them.
They no longer fit.
Making room for only what fits now and tomorrow.
The drawer much lighter as the bottom comes back together.
I remove the drawers and replace what broke the inside.
I carefully inspect each glide.
Discarding the broken glides and replacing them with the newer stronger ones.
The inside now repaired, I sand, stain and polish the outside and it shines.
The smell of its newness returns.
The hard labor has it’s reward.
My dresser, not new, but reinvented.
Better than it ever was.
I reflect on my life and see the striking resemblance.
The only difference being,
The dresser could not help what was placed inside.
It was powerless and it fell apart.
I was not.
I chose and allowed who filled me up.
I accepted items that did not fit and had no place inside of me.
I could either give up and discard myself,
Or clean the inside out and reinvent.
The smell of my newness has returned.
Once again, I am restored.
I am beautiful.