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The Drum

In the beginning we each carry a drum
Filled to the brim with what we bring
Our plans and gifts inside like treasures
Jostled with our faults and pains

We approach each other with our arms wrapped tightly
Around our chosen load
Then we walk together some ways
And piece by piece we carefully select
A trinket to share

Sometimes what is pulled out is broken
And we quickly shove it back
Saving those pieces only for ourselves
To examine in the dark

Though some of us carry faulty drums
Bottomless and empty but for what is borrowed
From those with whom we walk

I have lent my things
Carefully at first, placing each back
Into its place inside
After being carefully examined and turned over by other hands

Then as the road grew long
And the borrowing increased
I began to notice missing things
And looked back to see them smashed along the road

More resolutely then, I collected back what was mine
Sharing only when the emptiness alongside
Seemed safe and welcoming

Later still and many things had gone
Except the largest and most clearly mine
My empty-drummed companion demanding to see each
Then smashing what was good
And laughing at the broken

Until I turned over my drum and emptied it
So that nothing more could break
And nothing more could be shamed

Now two empty drums walk together
For a short time in peace and partnership
In having such a lack

When suddenly I notice I am walking alone
And look back to see the bottomless drum
Pointing another way

“Why is yours so empty?” they demand
And ask to look inside
Helplessly I show my drum
And what little dust is left

So they begin to walk again
Demanding to know
How such a broken person can exist
With not a trinket nor treasure to show
Such damning evidence of fault

I shrug and continue walking
Alongside, empty, broken
Without a voice or answer

Hey KP17

Its a nice way to share a story, the focus on the context and not the details is something that really caught my attention from your post.

Interesting angle, "lending" instead of giving. Like a limited resource, you would need that back at some point.

Why not create something valuable that can be freely and safely given away? Like a ticket to a concert, people don't "buy" the band or the stage, just the experience, and the tiny paper ticker, though easily produced and simple to give out, is as valuable as the "real thing". If they smash that (the ticket), the show can still go on without them 

could there be another way to go about this "So that nothing more could break, and nothing more could be shamed"?