After the Screened-in Porch

After the Screened-in Porch

    "when a man goes out to fight for the truth he should never wear his best pants." 

What he knows now about tiling 

is that sparks flying from the whir

of a wet saw means it's plumb

out of water, if you happen to be

a fan of firm ground

mix the thin-set anything but thin,

and best do it with a little brother

while the two of you float 

the tenor to “A King is Coming

to Town,” sure it sets right

before Sunday’s Christmas 

choir. What he knows now about

raising daughters, how to bear  

with a friend the unbearable

weight of cradled air,

how to square the bend

of his thoughts before they’re too stiff 

to shift? Again, just odds

and chipped ends, so he has no plans

of getting out of here anything less

than covered in the stuff.