Musee Mecanique

[musee mecanique]

Behind beveled glass,
And oak veneer,
She is sad sometimes--
An orchestrion
Rattled, buzzing inside:
Something in dark where
Whippens work; something
In dark over pinblock and bridge,
Ridges, racks of
Brass and ash --spruce
Shim slipped from
A soundboard crack,
Levers lost in
Danger and promise.
What dark entails:
A derailed track
Searching after a
Spring fails. I press.
A little felted hammer
Strikes no reply.
Sometimes she is sad
And can't remember why.

Kitchen Porch Repairs

Replacing purlin, post,
Where rot most appears,
One climbs a house's
Heart from here, alone--
With tools and tapes,
Embraced by redwood bones
Where weather chews--
To review foxing soffits
And incursions upon
A porch's purpose
To protect-- protect
Where life goes on.
It holds onto one
Until the job is done.