The Carpenter's Operation
All scrubbed up and ready to go,
The surgeon's instruments get into character,
Now is the time for the procedure to begin,
As I watch this master's story unfold,
Laid out the patient awaits his treatment,
Your passion making an inspiring statement,
Commencing the forging of grain and knot,
Your taming of the wood delicately forethought,
The floor sits covered in a fresh snowfall covered landscape,
Each gentle manoeuvre making ready an avalanche of sawdust,
Your friends in the chisels, saws, hammers and nails,
Call for your attention as you mold your next masterpiece.
Explanation
During my pre-teen/early teen years, I was having some problems at school - not settling in or adjusting to my new school etc. One of the activities I did to take my mind off things was to spend some time with a friend of my parents who was a carpenter. Together we would make bits and bobs out of wood. The "masterpiece" being a big rabbit hutch for the two rabbits my sister and I had recently been given.
Although old enough to be my grandad, I enjoyed spending time with Don who was aware that at the time I needed a break from the difficulties I was having at school.
I still remember admiring his skills as a craftsman. His attention to detail and passion for doing a good job, meritorious. I actually found out a while ago that Don had passed away. I was quite sad about that as he was a good man. But this poem lives on in his memory.
This poem takes uses the analogy of a hospital procedure as the craftsmanship taking place.
All scrubbed up and ready to go,
Getting ready to do some woodwork, getting the safety goggles on, clearing space etc
The surgeon's instruments get into character,
Each tool has its own role, sometimes multi-roles to play in crafting the masterpiece
Now is the time for the procedure to begin,
As I watch this master's story unfold,
Getting ready to watch, in this case Don begin to do his work. Held in much admiration the same way that a keen medical intern would watch a top surgeon perform his skills to save a patient.
Laid out the patient awaits his treatment,
Basically to start with, it's a block of wood, laid out on the workbench, ready to receive it's new limbs and appearance
Your passion making an inspiring statement,
The work of Don becoming something was really quite inspiring
Commencing the forging of grain and knot,
The masterpiece would begin to take shape and really start to look something
Your taming of the wood delicately forethought,
All masters of their work first have to the understand and tame the beast
The floor sits covered in a fresh snowfall covered landscape,
All the wood chippings that would fall to the floor during all the cutting, sawing etc
Each gentle manoeuvre making ready an avalanche of sawdust,
Continuing the shaping, little piles of sawdust would grow and become bigger ones
Your friends in the chisels, saws, hammers and nails,
Call for your attention as you mold your next masterpiece.
A skilled craftsman has to develop a health, almost interacting relationship with his tools. They need to understand each other's strengths and weaknesses. When not working, a true craftsman, whether that be a carpenter or musician will often say that his tools/instruments call to him/her to make more.
