PERSPECTIVE

John A. Brown

I bought a pneumatic nail gun to increase my productivity

and put my hammer in its sleeve.

My lover was disappointed and on to me.

Speed is not everything,

slow focused pace mean more to me.

"Baby! John Henry's soul is what I crave."

Retrieve your hammer,

cure your hearts arrhythme,

take a page from John Henry.

Throw that thing away,and

come back to me.

I want a man who is interested

in process, not speed.

CARPENTER'S BELT

Whit Dorfneilsen

Pencil in hand,

Tape on the board.

"Two at eight feet!"

measured and scored.

Precise cross-cuts

Yielding perfect fit.

Atop the jacks

Abeam will sit.

Aload,no doubt

Over mind and soul;

Asilent integrity;

With personal control.

Line follows truth;

An arcof duty.

Concentric circles

Radiating beauty.

Of divine proportion

Do molecules start

The muscles spiraling

Around a kind heart.

Love for family and friends;

Confidence felt

Are tools of inspiration

On a carpenter's belt.

MIGHT'VE BEEN

Vin Dorio

He might have worked beside me

or maybe on his own

He may have been a whiz kid,

or wize guy,who knoz

he may have built many things

in all those future years

I like to think

I may have helped

in some constructive way

to teach,to think,to cry

to treasure every day

I can only make it so

in my heart and in my mind

He never made twenty one

He crossed the sniper's eye

Life for country

we lose one more

I'm not sure what to say

he may have been a carpenter,

He may have been my friend

THE COLD TREE

Stanley Stamatel

The cold weather

Seems fitting for a tree

A fine beginning

Prestige inevitably for a king

Hacked, sawn, hammered, and painted

Financed, designed, and built.

Oh, where's that

Next lonely tree

Looking for a home

The cars as thick as a forest

The mosquitos, dinosaurs

The sapling bends to the child's playing

Summer comes, and fall, too

The tree's now measured in board feet

Less worshiped than the house built

Sold off like dreams,forgotten like rain

Tulip ,linden, tamarack, forgotten in the woods

Base cap, casing, crown forgotten in the background

Of paint and television

When the dust settles and the craft complete

We’ll return to the lumber stores and wood shop

And never forget that babe in the woods.

FEDERALIST STYLE

Jerry Abelow

I am inspired by you.

Full energy overflow,

Struggling to set your thought,

Makes me remember younger days

The old house.

Excellent federalist style

The newspaper stated.

Next to the Hill of the Big View

Not too far from the Praying Indians of Ponkapoag.

First time in such construction

Pine floors, worn nails.

Look behind the chimney.

A place for Puritans to hide.

Soapstone sink, big and wide.

Great for little beer kegs.

The engineer, the teacher, the motorcycle man,

Park people, the sweet conservationist

Growers of all kind.

Sitting in the kitchen

Speaking their mind.

Choke Cherry trees

In the front yard.

Lashed together – making

A place for sweat bath taking.

Guided by a friend,

We made it together.

ANOTHER MISSED MITER

Jim Dugan

Alittle missed Miter

on a big door frame much wider

started the day out this way.

Then another missed miter

and,damn another one right beside her

sat this carpenter down on that day.

CARPENTER’S CHALLENGE

Joe Bergin

First heard of him from Uncle John

Something about a carpenter coming down

From back up in the mountains to work

In the town and on the camps down by the lake

Ate no meat, nothing from the deadly nightshade family

And didn't drink but once a year

In a three day bacchanal on the summer solstice

I'd seen his work and it was damn good

He was something of a mystery to me

Came down to the lake and that's where I met him

Working on the family camp

Alight in his eye and doing the work I should've done

He had but one good hand and the other

The right one, I believe, had a part of a thumb

And no fingers to speak of really

But Bert could frame an addition or

Build a deck as good and fast as anyone

Had his tricks, though, like the rubber band

Around his wrist to hold the nails his hand

Couldn't grasp,and many more I'm sure

Tried to find his house once in the back country

To drop off an anti-war t-shirt I knew he'd love

Had the right address but got lost on the

Winding dirt roads and couldn't find it

Told my brother James about it and he said

"Maybe you weren't supposed to!"

WEBSTER'S ROOM

Siobhan Murphy

I looked up the word carpenter today and I Quote,

"to construct in an unoriginal way."

This Webster dude has put a damper on this carpenter's mood.

I picture him in a study of darkened wood

and wonder if he

ever understood

what went into his library of shelves

once level but now sagging and disheveled

from time,with time

did he ever refer to his definition of original,and I quote,

"belonging to the beginning of something."

So if carpentry is not the beginning of something

is not original

then I wonder what could have inspired we poets,

"the imaginative thinkers"

to do, what we do, when we do, carpentry.

THE KNEE WALL

Carl Weinhardt

It's not like I had any slack on the cable

Reaching down with both hands

To extract the broken fan

There was only one position

In a space that small

The chest pressed to thigh

The rafter rubbing on the spine

I had to crawl–

And drag a cord to thrust a light

Around the dark corners...

It took twice as long as long as it might have

Behind the knee wall.

I had to crawl–

The rafter rubbing on the spine

The chest,pressed to thigh

There only was one position–

In a space that small

...To extract the broken fan...

Reaching down with both hands

On the cable

Slack ...? ...It's not ...Like I had ...Any ...!

CARPENTER'S DAWN

Marc Rogovin

The alarm wrestles me from my sleep.

Darkness implies this is an improbable hour

But the clock crows a new day.

Tea water boils, cold water on face renews, radio informs

How many layers must be worn?

Comfort is paramount; there is work to be done

Grim face men dancing to keep warm in the dark

Cords, lines, tools, wood, paper, steel appear.

Good quality is a must freezing cold or not.

Sun drifting from behind the house

Shines on our work and our spirit.

I shed my outer layer.

The house shall be tight and warm

It built by cold fingers and sun warmed backs.

A LITTLE NUMBER ABOUT A LOTTA NUMBERS

ONLY ONE OF WHICH MATTERS RIGHT NOW

INCHED IT!!!

Stefan Filipowic

48 and 7/8  48 and 7/8  48 and 7/8

Last piece of the good stuff; can't screw this up

What was it,Norm?  Measure twice,cut once!

OK: 48 and 7/8  48 and 7/8  48 and 7/8

Oh yeah! Can't forget! Got to pick up the kid from ballet @7:00

I can't BELIEVE she’s got our SON in ballet class!

Jesus! .... Ah .....Whatever ....

48 and 7/8  48 and 7/8  48 and 7/8

Wait!!! ...What's today...the seventh?

Last day to get the mortgage in

Without a penalty! Extra seventy-five bucks!

Ah,I'll call it in at lunch ...Got the bastards on speed dial.

48 and 7/8  48 and 7/8

Man ...my foot is killing me.Feels like someone sticking an

Ice pick in my heel.I'd better get that checked out.

I should have stayed in school.What was I thinking?

42years old ...What’s50gonna feel like?

48and 7/8...

Hey! It's 10:15! Coffee time! I'll just make this cut

And hit Dunkie's!

OK ... 47 and 7/8 ... Boom!

AHHHHHH ... I friggin' inched it!!! Last piece too!!! He’s gonna

Lose it ... Maybe I can two-piece it! Oh ... but it's right

Over the front door!!!!

I BROKE THE RULE

Joe Bergin

I broke the rule

And did a job I could see

From my house—twice

One nearly drove me to

Madness and bankruptcy

The other one turned out

...Nice.