Don’t Tell Me

it’s iron, the bottle

crouched on its white pedestal,

long beak spout and wide open handle

you could see starry sky through.

Everybody was doing that new stitch,

it had spread far west, oh yes,

said Mrs. ______ at Knit & Purl,

but how many hats can one person wear?

I’d like to be more useful—say

apprentice to a bung fitter, or make

chipped ice, to hit something (not live)

on the head, directly,

I’ve not yet seen the Rock Wren

though I saw a photo of one inserting

pebbles in the airflow pipe of a mine,

therein to lay its eggs.