the craftsman gone (vale Desmond Schuller)

 

the craftsman gone

vale Desmond Schuller

 

(lantern day in the Oz Year)

 

a shoulder birded man at sea

and on dry land

a shed in the town of possibility

eye for timber sling

and kept a TARDIS too

 

bringer of wildflowers, dried flowers

trail of crumbs with the bird

 

one whose head spun

with great ideas

 

the maker

tradeless sailor

legless jokes

 

man with the chain

and the circular saw

 

ever wry, apt for…

of good cheer

courtly

and even attentive at times

(to patrons, never customers)

 

man in the detail

his way the highway

 

like that Black knight in The Holy Grail

a fearless cheeking gives

 

he’s rattling out the oily rag whiff

face to friend at the job

 

there’s that smile of ‘you can’t guess me’

some of the wheels come off

and so what?

 

there’s a track in your dream where he’s rolling along

next problem to solve

gingerbread gypsy

and yacht for fresh seas

 

much loved, and who’s not difficult?

you’d have thought that the salt would preserve him

 

I myself knew him only a little

but know

nobody got quite what they asked for

everyone was impressed

 

has he gone to a tiny house in the sky?  

spare me that kind of nonsense…

there’s still tinkering to do

 

Desmond was one of the miracles

I’ll just say goodbye

(some of Desmond's handiwork)