18 October 2020

By Philip Kuepper

The heart of some boats
is oak,
of some, birch.
Cedar goes into the making
of others,
and pine, still others.
Is walnut ever used?
I am unsure.
Perhaps in the burled
finish of a console?
Trees.
Without a wood,
boats would not have been
what they were,
what they were to become.
What was it in the human
brain that thought to wed
wood to water?

(10 October 2020)