The Drawer

He was an easy goin’ man, that’s what they said. Easy goin’, and he was

Me father had a drawer under the bench in the shed that was his go to place

the somewhere he went for peace and clarity or just time

the drawer had divisions made from skelps of wood

dividers to hold washers and nuts and split pins and plugs

rawl plugs for masonry

it was a farmers emporium of nick nacks and tools

everything was there, everything you’d use to fix farmin’ equipment or stuff about the house

but it wasn’t always what was in the drawer that the aul’ man saw

it was the world around him when it got disturbed

it was his place for reflection and weldin’ and grindin’ 

for sortin’ out questions and sometimes, not always, findin’ answers

if we wouldn’t do homework or crashed the good car

if there was a row over football or someone let him down somehow

he’d open the shed and he’d go to the drawer

and he’d start futerin’ and figurin’ and scratchin’ and bangin’

and after surmisin’ he’d put all away and he’d take a deep breath

and he’d have the last say … of course he did, he was the boss

he kept everything there all the rivets and screws and a packet of lockets that never got used

and fuses – he had a compartment for fuses all to themselves

said they were safer there then up on the shelves and they were

there was the good spanner … it was missin’, though he still had the box

and he kept the bulbs in it and there was a whole section for locks 

and he had a load of keys 

he had keys for locks that were lost or broken and good locks with no keys that no one could open

if he’d a row with me mother that’s where he’d go although it wasn’t often they had a row

if there was an animal down or a friend of his died, you’d see him through the window

just standin’ inside at the bench by the drawer

as time went on he went there alot .. he opened the drawer and sometimes not

the divisions and compartments had started to crumble 

everything was there it was just such a scramble to find what he wanted

but he still fixed things or he thought he did 

and sometimes he fixed things that were already fixed

mostly he put on his glasses marked glasses from the pouch on the shelf

and he tidied the bench and he tied bits of twine

and he fumbled through the drawer and said ‘oh my’

all these things so precious and he didn’t know why

such an easy goin’ man or so they all said

he kept his world in a drawer under the bench in the shed