Dee Rimbaud © 2005 All Rights Reserved
Dee Rimbaud © 2005 All Rights Reserved
Shovel
Those who never touch one
know nothing of the pleasure —
the balance of lever and fulcrum,
arcing plunge of the head, or how
a repeated motion can anesthetize,
shrink the world, collapse it
to the subterranean alone.
They will never know
how the shaft, after such familiarity,
seems an extension of the arm —
as if its maker knew
what we really need in this life.
Lucas Howell is a first year MFA student at the University of Idaho. His poetry has appeared in several magazines, including Jeopardy and Carnelian. He also has a poem forthcoming in the fall 2004 Crab Creek Review.