26 July 2007

"Handyman"

Milton has been posting poems from The Writer's Almanac this week. I enjoyed today's poem so much I thought I'd do the same. Here it is:

"Handyman" by Barton Sutter, from Farewell to the Starlight in Whiskey. © BOA Editions, 2004. Reprinted with permission. (buy now)

Handyman

The morning brought such a lashing rain
I decided I might as well stay inside
And tackle those jobs that had multiplied
Like an old man's minor aches and pains.
I found a screw for the strikerplate,
Tightened the handle on the bathroom door,
Cleared the drain in the basement floor,
And straightened the hinge for the backyard gate.
Each task had been a nagging distraction,
An itch in the mind, a dangling thread;
Knocking a tiny brass brad on the head,
I felt an insane sense of satisfaction.
Then I heard a great crash in the yard.
The maple had fallen and smashed our car.

Note: I loved this poem for its use of language and the surprise at the end. As I was pasting this thing into my blog I realized this is a sonnet: the rhyme scheme is abba abba abba cc. How cool is that!

7 comments:

  1. Loved it at Milton's blog....and still love it here.

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  2. Scott

    This week at WA has been particularly good. I liked this poem for the same reasons you mentioned (props on noticing the rhyme scheme) and because I have my own nagging list of things to do around here.

    Peace
    Milton

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  3. Yes, Milton, it's been really good. I don't always get to listen to NPR at noon when WA is broadcast, so the daily email has been a neat addition to my morning. I didn't realize today was Huxley AND Shaw's birthday - two of the most intriguing writers of the 20th century.

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  4. It's a good day to have a birthday. :)
    Christina

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  5. Does that mean that a brand new someone has a birthday? Because if my memory serves yours is past...

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  6. That's what you get for relying on memory, good Reverend...

    =)

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