It's been a while

[handslive]

since I posted,  much less since I wrote anything new.  (Edited:  small word change to avoid a needless repetition.)

A broom and boxes of 60-penny galvanized nails

We swept out my father's garage
A warm autumn day with all the doors open
Wearing masks against the dried mud and road grime
The slightly oily lint and bench litter
The mouse droppings and insecticide
Dead magpie and somnolent black flies
Rust, old bolts, washers, nuts and nails
So many nails
Working nearly clockwise around the floor
Workbench to shelves to cupboards to corners
And widdershins the farm after
Barn to fields to hay shed to road
Up the lane to the garage
Now neater anyway, recycling and trash sorted
Ready for the new owners to park their truck
Fill surfaces and drawers and spaces
With parts and needful pieces
The house with chairs and beds and cutlery
The stalls and pens
And eventually memory
With living