Wasted

by Cheryl Merrick

Like a jeweler's file
used as a tooth pick,
or a piano leg
wielded as a hammer;

Like a race horse
pulling a plow,
or a book merely
adorning a shelf;


Like a sculpture
placed as a doorstop,
or a painting wrapped
around garbage;

I end up broken
-- wasted,
when my talents
are not used
as God intended.