By Kenn Taylor
The workshop
was his place.
Now he is gone
the tools gather dust
cobwebs forming
dense spiralling sheets
and that moist residue
of cold, outside places
lies thick, undisturbed.
So much of who he was is here
the old Golden Virginia tins
Written on in Tipp-Ex:
Allen Keys
Screws (Head Tapping)
O-rings
Swarfega
all in
neat
sensible
order.
Tools I have no use for
tools I have no skill to use
tools like him.
Old
strong
hard
slow
dependable
cold
tools.
Things of use.
Things that lasted.
Things that mattered.
Making things.
Keeping things.
Just in case.
Taking time
to repair
and make do
Recycling
before it was fashionable.
He was wrong about many things
Now I am older though
I know, sometimes, he was right
but
alas
as the dust thickens
I cannot
tell him.
This piece appeared in Issue 3 of The Accent magazine in January 2012.
Kenn Taylor 