Unhandy
By Bruno Rescigna
April 15, 2024
April 15, 2024
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My neighbor’s building a garage
to hold two cars and a workshop. I’m amazed as I watch him build the structure. It’s as complex to me as if he were constructing a rocket to Mars. I’m not handy. That’s almost too kind. I’m unhandy. You’d never ask me to help do anything but carry groceries or hose down a sidewalk. My neighbor isn’t doing this work alone. He has friends helping. Handy people attract other handy people. I’m a poet, so unfortunately, I attract other poets. I don’t think I’d tackle the job of building a garage with a bunch of poets. I’m sure that if a wall we built caved in their major concern would be finding the right poetic device to use to describe the rubble. One would say: Our wall became a jagged mountain of stone. Another would shout, No, listen! The wall crushed upon itself like the heart of a scorned lover. I’m sure none of them would have tools. My neighbor has loads of tools. No matter what he wants to fix, he has a tool for the job. I think we have a screw driver somewhere in the house. It belongs to my wife. If I find it, I’ll leave it in the workshop in our new garage as soon as we find someone to build it. |
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Bruno Rescigna’s writing credits include: short stories published in Elysian Fields Quarterly and the Bucks County Writer, two one-act plays produced at the University of New Mexico. Bruno’s poetry appeared in Ariel Chart, Loch Raven Review, Literary Yard, and the annual issue of Tidepools. One of Bruno’s poems was selected for reading at the 2023 Summertide Festival, Port Angeles, Washington, and is displayed on the grounds of the Fine Arts Center. In addition, Bruno was a finalist in 2021’s Tucson Festival of Books, a national poetry competition. Lastly, Bruno was interviewed on the “Strength to Be Human” podcast hosted by Mark Rossi, Editor of Ariel Chart.
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Author's Note:
One of the blessings of aging can be the gradual acceptance of oneself. I appreciate my qualities and skills, and feel less discomfort about what I lack. Composing a humorous view of my nonexistent mechanical talents is my way of expressing self-acceptance.