The Sawdust Farmer

by Alexander M. Koch

the sawdust farmer plies the space
between waste
and resurgence
cloistered in his shop
delicately balanced pencil
behind one ear
creating lines
and cuts
forming pertinent piles
by his worn-dark leather boots
steel-toed
the sawdust farmer
curates his crop
intentions be damned
he will continue
to shore up
the cracks in the floorboards
with sawdust
penetrating the spaces
beneath his fingernails
his saw works
in precise back-and-forth