Spirit Level

Spirit Level

large hands, that surround wood, kindling into life
the dead, palms as sensitive as fingertips cup flatness
stroke at arms' length, appreciating, celebrating, willing
the straightness, straight as the self-sharpened pencil

sawdust, lifted in clinging flakes from the skin of the pine
as soft as soap, spreads, a creamy powder, speckles
your hair like dew on a web, like sherbet on a sleeve
creates a second grain, yellow in the pink of your fingerprint