Whittling

*

So far, it's going slow,

this whittling   I haven't

whittled since I was

a boy in North Dakota

sitting in grass on my knees

Just whittling   It started

out watching a man

at a garden show   He

had reverence   and

for wood   I got that,

no fancy tools   Me

and my Old Timer's

knife   They went

out of business   Knives

come from China now

most steel does   but

I don't have any

artist gifts   except

my left hand   I have

ambitious notions   Take

myself out

of any story   Another

way to forget   General

Grant, Ulysses S., the President,

whittled every night

by campfire, whittled

sticks to nothing   That's

my aim   Like I say

it's slow go

Jim Bodeen

6-8 August 2018