Brian’sPoems

The Collected Writings of Brian J. Mueller

A single poem, met at the right moment, can change a life.

Search and read all 1,834 pieces by Brian J. Mueller — 1,675 poems, 38 prose pieces, and 121 haiku from 12 published volumes. Free to read and share.

Search tips

Search by title, first line, poem text, book, or type — results appear as you type. Look inside the poems for any word or line, or wrap a phrase in "quotes" to find it exactly. Use the chips and the book menu to narrow things down.

← All poems

Empty Cupboards

I gave everything.

This time around
it took nearly five years
for me to empty my cupboards.
I thought I’d saved plenty,
but now it’s all gone.

I suppose it was inevitable
for me to share everything I had.
Besides, I needed to free up space
and make room for some more.

But I did what I so often do
and gave away too much,
without holding any back
for me to rely upon.

So now I’m staring
at my barren shelves,
wondering and amazed
this could happen again,
hoping I won’t need
to go the same lengths
to fill them up anew.

Published in