We collect every hope.
Every dream, every wish.
Every visit home.
We gather them in baskets
or cans
or even the cradle of our t-shirts
as we stretch them out and care nothing
for the damage we may cause them.
Damage is a price we pay.
Willingly.
The risk we take.
Gladly.
Damage is a thing we will all carry -
but unlike our hopes and dreams,
eventually we will leave it by the roadside
while the rest
we store away
in boxes.