Handling Destiny: Tools of the Trade
1.
They make such uncomfortable clank
child of earth
child of fire
These are your tools of the trade
difficult when you use them
A large trunk with children darting
in all directions
appears slippery in its sheen
adorned with thorns
There comes a day in a man's life
when the machete he was given early on
can cut into small inheritances
place them in a large calabash
set them aflame
spill the ashes behind him
to cover his old footsteps
the one's he stepped over & over
trodden tongue lashing
the atlas of littered women
over & over every few years
2.
Remember at the end of seven days
a gift of hoe & machete
used at times by your grandfather
then again by his son
At the end of the seven days
remember the whipping song
as you with machete & hoe in hand
wrote on the earth diagrams
signatures that would sprout shelter
words won't lead you to obstacle's house
Remember
when she had a dimpled hammock on each thigh
marks from birth from years lying
behind
diagrams written on her history
Copyright Credit: Adrian Castro, "Handling Destiny: Tools of the Trade" from Handling Destiny. Copyright © 2009 by Adrian Castro. Reprinted by permission of Coffee House Press. www.coffeehouse.org
Source: Handling Destiny (Coffee House Press, 2009)