Woodsman

went to the woodpile

dreaming of fire

(naught but ashes,

and a gathering chill)

the ax was misshapen

bent, dry

(treated poorly but..

still expected to perform)

but I hefted it anyway

full swing, back and down

(no graceful arc here,

just an angry whoosh)

dangerous that - I know

i missed, no surprise

(every. time.)

caught a limb, shocked

but numb

(pain, its just so

fluid.. right?)

and realized, for this 

I needed a sledge.

(get the right tools girl,

you know better than this)

Reviews

[zainul]

Read it twice.
At first read from top to bottom with the contents in parentheses.
Then without parentheses only.
The feels for the readings were very enlightening.
Asking for,'get the right tools girl' in parenthesis is a wonderful way of assisting the reader.
Congratulations,dear poet!!!

[SpitfireGrrrl]

Thanks so much!

[zainul]

You are welcome.

[Holly Mason]

hey I did this-this is my first year chopping wood ever
I put the piece on the ground-used the wrong tool and bam it flew back up and hit me smack in the face
my daughters and I called it my wood chuck face-only because we did not have those critters where we came from
I love the expression that you have used and I also enjoyed the ending where it seems you are fussing at yourself -made me smile
good content cute title
thank you for sharing

[SpitfireGrrrl]

Thank you! Yes, I am ever reprimanding myself after the fact it seems ;)

[.]

~ oh... if this actually happened, i hope all's well now and the injury wasn't too serious... ~ the imagery in this piece is so powerful and the symbolic value of this poem is so immense... that it's just unforgettable... ~ yes... we better get the "right tools" for every task in life... else there could be accidental injuries... ~ oh...and... the narration of this poem... is very compelling too... it's like reading the mind of the poet... amazing work... :)

[SpitfireGrrrl]

Thank you :)

[.]

:)

[Distant horizons]

Like the flow and inner dialogue of this. We all need the right tools. Don't always remember until too late though.
ps.... Just mentioning cos i think its funny, but over here, we call a sledgehammer a persuader, because it persuades walls to fall down :-)

[SpitfireGrrrl]

Thanks! Persuader? That's awesome - I'm gonna have to use that at some point :)

[Distant horizons]

:-)