Carpenter’s Angels

Actions always planned are never completed.
—Democritus

Yesterday I told myself
I’d finish on Sunday
the project I started
two years ago,
but I can’t trust my follow-thru
at weekend carpentry
so I swore an oath this time,
pricked my thumb,
touched blood to forehead
as if to mark a tilak

I faced the four cardinal directions

bowing in turn I blessed myself,
right fingers first
to bloody head,
to breast,
shoulders 
left to right

I crossed my heart
like the kid I once was
……… almost devout
but not quite convinced
hammer and nails were enough
to coax the angels out

………………….
Jim Culleny
April 2009
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