Raise The Grain

That is a stirring gizmo made of Douglas Fir, a cranky but gorgeous wood. The winter grain is dramatically harder than the summer grain, takes a lot of soaking, drying and sanding to get smooth.

                Raise The Grain

        Before the final sanding,
     the grain must be dealt with.
         The summer and winter
        or the dry and monsoon. 
               Rings of growth
             must be dealt with.
               Wet them down,
                   let them dry
            and sand that which
          rises above his brother.

           Can the grain of man
                       be so?
               For every blond
           and innocuous strain
             of character, do we
            possess its shadow,
                its darker twin?

             When wetted with
                the rising heat
               of blooded fury,
            which vein will rise,
         which will surface and
         command the moment?
                Will reason be
            the slave or master
                   of passion?
         We cannot know until
          the sanguine anguish
           takes us where it will.

                      5/2022