/ / / carpentry

SADIE
​in the game, my specialty was carpentry
​my grandpa had been a luthier—
​so i modeled the master carpenter on him

(grandfather appears, holding a hurdy-gurdy)

GRANDFATHER
​i make mandolins
​cellos, dulcimers, and lutes
​i can turn a stick
​into a stirring alto flute

​i can make violas
​that sound really purdy
​and i can even make
​a very special hurdy-gurdy

SADIE
​grandpa’s hurdy-gurdy!
​this crazy violin-in-a-box—

​he kept it in the downstairs closet
​underneath some shoes
​he only brought it out
​when i was feeling kind of blue
​and every halloween
​he would let me turn the crank
​while he and grandma passed out
​brand new pennies from the bank

​my grandpa instilled in me
​a deep respect for wood

GRANDFATHER
​remember sadie, we don’t play the instrument
​the instrument plays us
​we are merely the vessels;
​the conduits through which the spirit of the wood chooses to ​sing

SADIE
​sneaking in to grandpa’s shed
​just to smell the wood;
​running my hand through the sawdust
​watching it sift through my fingers
​in the sunlight