Coat Hanger

10 minutes of prompted unspooling of thoughts pertaining to the coat hanger in the corner

Usable

Practical

Invisible

One of many

Generic

A place to hand what no longer serves me

An occupant of many closets

A welcome guest to any gathering

The hearer and seer of all things

On first glance, it reminds me of deer antlers

Permanently posed to enhance its purpose

A frozen remnant of a life once lived

The wood composing it telling stories of years gone by, standing in forests I'll never see, growing in soil I'll never feel, housing birds I'll never name, yet created by the same God, breathing the same air, feeling the same wind, seeing the same sky.

Does it ask the same questions? Does it pray the same way? Does it long for love like I do? Does it have a passion? Does it have a purpose? That is, before its life is over, and it has traveled through many rooms with many hands in many processes with many tools until it becomes something it would never have recognized in a mirror - changed, but purposefully. Maybe my journey is similar. I may feel as though I am just a place for people to hang the thoughts and feelings they no longer desire to hold. But in truth I am made up of so many pasts I can't contain them, I see so many lives around me I can't number them, I offer so much so often that people don't even realize, I stand on legs carved in perfection for the job of holding me steady, with branches of hair and limbs carved and posed like sculptures created by God.

2/17/25