The carpenter’s challenge, By : Joe Bergin
The Carpenters spokeshave
Photography by : Nigel Borrington
CARPENTER’S CHALLENGE
Joe Bergin
First heard of him from Uncle John
Something about a carpenter coming down
From back up in the mountains to work
In the town and on the camps down by the lake
Ate no meat, nothing from the deadly nightshade family
And didn’t drink but once a year
In a three day bacchanal on the summer solstice
I’d seen his work and it was damn good
He was something of a mystery to me
Came down to the lake and that’s where I met him
Working on the family camp
Alight in his eye and doing the work I should’ve done
He had but one good hand and the other
The right one, I believe, had a part of a thumb
And no fingers to speak of really
But Bert could frame an addition or
Build a deck as good and fast as anyone
Had his tricks, though, like the rubber band
Around his wrist to hold the nails his hand
Couldn’t grasp,and many more I’m sure
Tried to find his house once in the back country
To drop off an anti-war t-shirt I knew he’d love
Had the right address but got lost on the
Winding dirt roads and couldn’t find it
Told my brother James about it and he said
“Maybe you weren’t supposed to!”
Nigel Borrington 
My father enjoyed woodworking as a hobby. I used to love playing with the wood shavings left on the floor of his basement workshop. Make little roads and mountains.
He would give me a block of wood and hammer and nails….so I know about sore thumbs but I still have both.
December 10, 2013 at 4:08 pm
Hello 🙂 🙂
That’s a wonderful message, thank you 🙂
It great you have these memories 🙂
December 11, 2013 at 11:21 pm
Lovely bit of writing – just beautiful, and with the photo, perfect!
December 11, 2013 at 1:33 am
Hello Anne 🙂
Thank you , very pleased you enjoyed 🙂 🙂
December 11, 2013 at 11:22 pm
What an interesting carpentry tool!
And a wonderful poem, Nigel. Very much like Carl Sandburg.
Love it! 🙂
December 12, 2013 at 4:07 am
Oh, the light on that shot!
December 13, 2013 at 10:29 pm