Molly Frederick’s most recent poem to appear here was “Autumn Observes” (November 2018). 

Gentle Carpentry
By Molly Frederick

On the porch steps at twilight, a chilled pilsner
at my side, I sit polishing some small object.
A boat perhaps. Or a black walnut disk.
Possibly a free-form vase I’ve fashioned from
maple, or a small oak frame
completed in days gone by, lacking only
the gliding touch of sand.  

Rolling slowly inside the modeling of my hands,
powdery softness increases.
Studying, shaping form, I remove the extraneous;
sniffing, but also sensing, the fruitedness
within nature’s fragrant designs.
Fathoming small changes, I grow calmer.
In a place where the deeper mysteries of love
and hope, can be touched and turned.
Held intimately—altogether,
inside two warm hands.