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 sitting alone more a sure step

toward the contemplative 

type. But then, come every July, 

he finds a tangle of vine

so thick he can’t recall  

which is which, what he likes

and what he ‘d like to

all knotted at the roots.

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