Monday, July 27, 2009: My New Obsession—Cuffed Jeans

A splintered block, a pudgy plastic
Doll with fishing-line hair. Any animal

Gone threadbare from companionship.
Our ability to worship any object

Extends beyond these purchased toys
Even in youth. Who has kept a box

Of beloved items, not meaningful
For any reason other than you love

Them—a small eraser, smooth
And curiously sweet-smelling (like taffy

Or mown grass); a white plastic
Disc on a tripod of legs, taken from

A pizza box; a white feather;
A strip of aluminum foil folded into

A ring. These things—all
Small, all collected, curated—these

Amulets are an early attempt
At protecting what we, only we love.