15,915. I TRY

I TRY 

(the Agway store)

The man was talking barrel-staves

in the Agway Store. Sensible place

for that sort of talk  -  those guys know

all about that stuff. Like the last name

of 'Cooper'  -  barrel making was once

the important art of cooperage and of

storage  -  liquids, grains and mash. 

All that crap was once important.

-

Now, we hear nothing of it  -  it's

all some corporate magic now done

15 states away  -  corn mash and 

barrels of oats, or a Kentucky morning

mist at the distillery, where they seek

to sell you alcohol dreams.

-

Everything's prosaic now; they make

up stories and set the scenes they want 

you to think about: those little vignettes

of great-grandpa and the sleds, sliding the

mash along the snowy paths in 1881 instead

of now : corporate vats brought to you

by International Consolidated Breweries.

-

This guy was on his money. "I need the

metal staves that line up at the bottom

and then fan out; with a belly at the center

where the barrel runs. I used to make

my own, but my shoulder's torn now and

I can't, and my kid's too busy gooning

with his girlfriend to even give a care."

-

I understood immediately what he meant;

being lame now myself and wishing for

more. I bought me a 14 dollar hammer,

just for the fun of it, and left out the

same door I'd entered in.