WORK IN PROGRESS…………

 

Something there is about work; that

Tendency to exert muscular power or

Subtle application, and in the process

 

Exercise body and mind. To appreciate

That instinct to make or mend, and in doing so,

Comprehend the nature of things.

 

Give me a tool to shape and bend

Material to the intended outcome of its endeavour.

 

To describe with your hands that

Which your imagination sees,

Seems to me a noble occupation,

 

Bringing to life the inanimate

Through deliberation and skill;

Willing the dexterous dynamics

 

Contained within to enter that

Zone of quiet contemplation,

Where hand and eye coordination                                                  

 

Times to perfection each precise act,

In order to weld and wield hammer and steel.       

And so conspiring

 

To make each cut and blow

Render a piece of wood, metal or stone,

An object of usefulness or beauty.   

 

Satisfaction may equally be found on fallow ground

In need of spade and fork, bringing to life

 

Land which was barren, so that the eye

Gains satisfaction from flowers or crops

Planted painstakingly, and cultivated to

 

Abundant splendour; the weight of soil

Felt though shoulder and limb. A testament

To aching back with each stone and weed removed.

 

So that upon completion, you say,

'There, that’s a job well done.'

Whereas when left solely to the mercy

 

Of pen and paper, the very nature

Of my undertaking can leave me lost for words

And my musings work in progress.