Other Hands
Wooden handles worn with age
Brushes, hammers and chisels
Blackened metal thinned to
Near transparency.
Red rusted toolboxes
Levels, joiners, and drill tips
Dipped in oil and respect
Old co-patriots
These tools were meant for other hands
Not mine.
Hard palms cracked and callused,
Yellowed dusty fingernails
Knuckles knotted by time
Uncompromizing
Dressers, door frames, lamps
Cherry, oak and yellow pine
An entire house now stands
In testimony
These gifts were built by other hands
Not mine
Walnut buffed and smooth
Velvet, brass, and roses red
Just another empty box
Mute and meaningless
Daughter, grandsons, wife,
Nephews, friends and minister
Gathered in his name
Reduce decades to minutes
Those words were said for another man
Not him.