A Broken Vessel

For more than forty years
it served his morning brew,
an aging piece of stoneware,
but almost good as new.

The coffee mug, a gift of friends
from bygone working days,
was bargain-basement crockery
with a blue-white crackle glaze.

Stored within a cupboard,
brought out at break of day,
his mug of steaming coffee,
would start him on his way.

All through his later life
the cup had served him well,
till that ill-fated day when
from feeble hands it fell.

Shattered on the floor,
it ended with a crash.
He slowly swept the shards
and dropped them in the trash.

“Good-bye, old friend,” he said at last.
“Your fruitful years are gone.”
He closed his eyes to darkness
and waited for the dawn.