fruit cakes

the fruit cakes
that arrived in the mail
have come in handy this year.
I've lined them
up against the drafty door
to keep
the winter air
out.
two I use on the shelf
for books,
thick and heavy volumes
of updike and cheever,
billy Collins,
holding them in place.
another is on the porch
for the birds,
but only woodpeckers seem
to have an luck
with them.
one pair
I use for weights when I wake
up in the morning.
twenty lifts with each
arm into the air.
next year i'll regift
them all,
they never seem to go bad.