Rusty tools

1. Hammer

   So much potential inevitably gets stowed
   like rusty tools, heaped in a cardboard box
   on the top shelf of my to-do list. Sometimes
   I take them out and look at them all.

   Then, overwhelmed by
   their many cryptic functions,
   their multitude, I put them
   all back, one by one.

2. Screw driver

   In other dimensions
   there are version of me:
   They have cello string lines
   for fingerprints, names stamped
   on business cards and dust jackets.
   Paint obeys them.

   They call me up on rainy Saturdays
   to chat, but I don’t answer
   so they call up my mother
   who does.

3. Tape measure

   at dinner        he eats
   one bite of rice
   one bite of chicken
   one bite of carrot

   one bite of rice
   one bite of chicken
   one bite of carrot

   one bite of rice
   one bite of chicken
   one bite of carrot

   and if fullness comes too soon
   he will leave unfinished        on his plate

   one bite of rice
   one bite of chicken
   one bite of carrot

   and it won’t matter because
   at dinner        he eats
   for experience        not accomplishment

I've fallen into the habit of writing short, two-stanza poems lately, and I'm really trying to break out of it. So I wrote a short, two-stanza poem, and this was the only thing I could think to do. Next week, I have a goal: new format!!

Photo by Per Erik Strandberg

        What are some of your "rusty tools"? Can you think of any skills or interests you were really involved with at one point, but sort of let fall away in favour of pursuing other things?