'The Catch--All' this week's feature on 'The Heron Tree'

The Heron Tree, the product of three Arkansas college faculty members, puts up a new poem on-line every week and collects them all at the end of the year for a print publication. I'm very pleased to have a poem on the page this week. It may jog memories of clearing out the parents' things and finding that the task deepens your understanding of who they were. Hope you enjoy it.

THE CATCH-ALL

When we cleared out the garage

for the last time, it was still there,

the grimy-white bookcase that held

paint cans, tools in a fishing tackle box, 

jars of unsorted nails and screws.

He owned a store; she played organ

at church; they raised three children.

Only people who believed walnut 

would always be plentiful in America

would have painted over it. Only people

who believed things don’t fall apart 

would have relied on one screwdriver,

a saw, a hammer and a pair of pliers.

Scrubbing, scraping, sanding,

I bring up the old, close grain.