Literal Grim You

When what you want is some relief,
The problem’s asymmetry
Between artisan, art, and
Customer. Or consumer.

Connoisseur. The collector.
The aficionado.
The art critic. Whoever.
To the woodworker, the wood

Feels hard to work with, feels good,
Although the grain of the wood
Comes from a life it once had
No woodworker ever knows.

And as for the connoisseur,
Well, what speaks to you, once made,
May not have spoken at all
In the making, or may have

Found voice just at the finish.
You need it to stay with you,
To offer you some solace,
Satisfaction in yourself,

Sense you’re sensing something true,
Even if you do woodwork
Of your own, as a hobby
Or your hard vocation, too.

You can’t match all these patterns
Tongue and groove. There’s the wood, dead
Now, literal. There’s the grim
Woodworker. And then there’s you.