grandfather was building a boat
i can remember the freshly cut wood smell
the shavings and sawdust on the floor
the many tools hanging in their places
who builds a boat from scratch
who tends a garden
raises geese and chickens
keeps bees and tends fruit trees?
his son never did any of that
it seems to me now
that all his son ever built
was the wall that separated us
The Ace Hotel Notebook 