The Tinkerer Works on Himself

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The Tinkerer Works on Himself


No taste for cucumber, squash, 

but he sows a handful each

March to see if he can train

himself up a trellis, as if

maybe it’s as simple as you just start 

doing the type of things 

the person you want to be 

does. Like maybe smiling 

is the best way to become 

one of those approachable people, 

or not talking so much

a sure step toward the contemplative 

type. But then, come every July, 

he remembers he forgot again

to label the seeds of the self he is

and the one he'd like to be,

finds a thatch of vine

so thick he can’t track back  

which is which.

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