The whittler
I marveled how he whittled
from chunks of driftwood
figurines so life-like
I half-expected them
to speak their gratitude,
say how glad they were
to be alive and never
drift aimlessly again
You could make a fortune
I told the whittler
people would line up
and pay big bucks
to own one creation
made from your hands
but he shrugged
and gave a toothless grin
It's a good knife, he said,
that somehow knows what
to shave and what to keep.
These old hands of mine
let that sharp fellow
lead the way until something
takes shape in my hands
and I lay the blade down
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Submitted on May 01, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 32 sec read
- 6 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | XXXXXAAX BAXXBCXX XXXXXXCX |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 536 |
Words | 107 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8 |
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"The whittler" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/88287/the-whittler>.
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