Inside a dank can

I found in the ground

just digging a garden, you see.

 

I spied with delight

the shimmery white

a mother of pearl set

there were three!

 

Inside the first thing

a dainty Irish ring

inside, it read

my love, let us wed

and let our hearts sing!

 

Number two, it was blue

an old hiking shoe

inside it, a note

and I read what she wrote

“it’s time to be through, my shrew.”

 

The last one, I cried

it left nothing to hide

a rose, all gilded with pewter

alongside was a note

and on it, by rote

Alas, I was too late to win her.

 

– Sandra Johnson, 6/26/21