Making Sense

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MAKING SENSE


In theory, you drag into the dappled light

of the driveway all the many tools


you’ve gathered over the years to build

a life, sweep out the inner room, 


then with a six-pack for a friend 

begin a rational afternoon of 


setting right. In theory there are 

plenty of built-in hooks 


and a label-maker, so all of it 

should all but categorize itself 


on the proper shelf, and in the future

you’ll know exactly where to go 


if you need to fix a leak or where to look 

if a tire’s flat. And sure enough, 


the big pieces click into place neatly 

as fact, and it’s not until the porch 


light flicks on that you remember 

how things arrived at this state


in the first place, the yard scattered

with odd pieces of pipe, dusty 


instruction manuals, a cardboard 

box of fittings that doesn’t fit 


this category or that, maybe 

a baseball bat. Some things 


reject a hook, and theories 

categorically leave us hanging, 


but what's loose may prove the stuff

you need next week to hang a ceiling fan 


or when shit hits it, and sure,  

you might have to do a little


digging, but at least you can swear 

it’s in here somewhere. 


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