Some objects are beyond repair: a shattered glass
an obsolete computer, an old wife who must
be swapped for one who’s younger, cuter
 
a home exploded by a storm, a busted reputation
a banged-up auto only good for scrap
a kidney-damaged senior cat.
 
Think then of things not completely lost
though by gravity and clumsiness attacked. Consider
kintsugi, the Japanese art of piecing back
 
broken bowls with golden glue: the shining mends
the imperfections honored, the damaged,
the storied, treasured just as much as new
 
or even more. Witness the prodigal redeemed
after his many falls. The tales you don’t want
to hear though he’s rebuilt, clean and sober now
and stronger at the seams for all you know.

Lynn Levin‘s most recent poetry collection, The Minor Virtues, is listed as one of Spring 2020’s best books by The Philadelphia Inquirer.  Her previous collections include Miss Plastique, Fair Creatures of an Hour, and Imaginarium. She is the translator, from the Spanish, of Birds on the Kiswar Tree by Odi Gonzales and co-author of Poems for the Writing: Prompts for Poets. Her poems have appeared in Boulevard, Artful Dodge, on Garrison Keillor’s The Writer’s Almanac, and other places. Her website is lynnlevinpoet.com