My Grandparents' TrueValue Hardware & Lumber

the seat
i found atop the 4x8 ply-
wood sheets next to the
ten-foot two by's

the sound of the
forklift engine and
cling of the bell
from the hardware
store door

the wonderful
and fascinating little
machine that shook up
can's of colored paint

the rambo style knife
in the glass
display
with matches stored
in the handle
I was promised
when I was old enough

all of these
are carried to me
in the smell of the sawdust
falling from these boards

beneath the whir of
the circular saw
which seems to demand:
how can you

love so easily
these things
that are no more?

and also
why did you cease
to want
that rambo knife?