A Man's Garage is His Cave

A Man’s garage is his cave
And this is one thing that will not change,
From the dawn of time to the iron age,
He has held this theatre forever his stage.
You may witness the found youth of sparkling eyes,
Or see satisfaction in hard earned sighs,
After a long day of slow steady toil,
From inside and under a softened glow,
The hammering of dull repetitive blows,
Up ancient hillsides, down valley floors,
Out through the windows and roller doors.

A Man’s garage is his cave
And this is one thing that will not change.
Alas can you hear the joining of shapes and driving of nails,
The bringing to life what the imagination holds,
The creation of something from salvaged scrap,
The brilliance of metal as man works hard to please it,
The emergence of instinct in this most human lore,
Of recycling, providing, re-inventing the form.
From throwaway offcuts come the framework of dreams,
To keep one from going insane it seems.

Can you make out the mind of a great intellect ticking,
Through drawers and shelves his fingers go fossicking,
Of nuts and bolts and washers and screws,
Taming his patience for just the right use,
Sifting through memories of long treasured heirlooms,
He has carefully stowed away in the full flame of knowledge
That they would be needed one day;
And with an almighty heave he brings it to life,
As Excalibur was raised straight from the stone,
But behold,
Where is it? It has to be here,
Surely it’s here, it was here somewhere...

A Man’s garage is his cave
And this is one thing that will not change.
Can you see the hunched figure, a weary old soul,
Assessing tactics he sets about his task,
Filing his subject clamped tight in a vice,
Failing to even acknowledge advice,
Coughing and spluttering in a realm of sawdust,
Stumbling and tinkering, admiring his hoard —
Museum pieces, given over only to rust,
Like his own body, corroding away.
...Calls from the kitchen, “Come in dear...”
As he considers for a moment, winds down his work,
And is forced to blow out the light
and lock up the doors on his life for yet another day.