We can manage the cost and inconvenience

to have another workshop

with saws, drills, wrenches, clamps, etc

and a space to park and protect the car and riding mower.

 

The cement floor will be Plain Jane pavement,

Hooks will keep tools within easy reach,

a drawer will hold the screws, nails, drill bits and such.

No need for fancy oak or cherry wood.

 

At the cost of clearing the rock garden with its sunflowers

and poke berry bushes — beautiful wild nature —

we will be practical, cars will not be at the mercy

of Ohio winter storms. wearing out batteries.

 

A collection of manuals, mostly soft cover, some Oxford Dictionary- sized.

The Chilton’s Manuals, now as rare as hardback books on carpentry,

stored on a shelf, away from the sawdust.

No sense knitting pretty things, where practicality rules.

 

Next week it will be completed, and it will be

celebrated with cheddar cheese and real wine glasses —

much fancier than the satchel of crackers and juice drinks

that I offered as Irish hospitality.

 

By Nancy Ann Smith,   Poetry Marathon prompt #5,  June 25, 2022