simple tools

Breaker Bar

Every now and then I get the urge to lift

the simple slender breaker bar in my hands,

Snap a socket on the square pivot fitting

and go hunting for a big fat frozen bolt,

one that hasn’t budged in ages, rust bound

threads that yearn to give held fast by a split

spiral washer, a tense marriage of wedge

to pent up tension, for no reason other

than to feel the sheer unbridled joy

that comes from applying Archimedes

Law of the Lever, set to deliver

a stunning verdict proclaimed with a sharp

dry crack that travels through my hands and
arms and lights up some forgotten

constellation in a dark and dusty

corner of my brain, closing a circuit

that began with the simple slender

breaker bar bequeathed but rarely wielded,

a conjure stick to summon you back to

throw your weight around, tip the scales in my

favor, balanced absurdly here on the business end.