by T.L. Sherwood
The Secret
The seed
the tree
the saw
the specialized truck.
The claw arm
the stack
the trip
the mill
the curing
the bundling
the ride.
The store
the customer
the Carhartt jacket
the stroke
the held at eye level to check the grain
the garage
the table saw
the planer
the table saw again.
The sander
the glue
the clamp
the lathe
the polish
the splitting of dowels
the matching designs to ornate.
The Box
The wrapping paper eschewed
the bow he kidnapped from the tasseled bike
the disappointed voice of his wife
the less than stunning praise
the damp praise
the pointing it out to his kin
the quality
the workmanship
the second girl born romantic hearing the worship
the coveting beginnings.
The mention
the disappointment of the will
the tender cry
the sister
the executor
the I don’t give a fuck
the get it out of here
the take it, take it
the hurt
the hug.
The Gift
The college graduation send-off party
the wish for cash
the guilted plague to “keep it in the family”
the lack of relatives to regift it to
the gradual growth
the change to appreciation
the steady
the mine
the marriage
the affair
the love letters
the broken lock
the divorce
the remarry
the passing of days once merry.
The sad day
the bad year
the heavy
the nostalgia
the resurrection from the spare room
the notice of a hidden panel
the urge to FaceTime
the urge to learn TikTok
the snap of the head back
the laugh at the thought that it might be Victorian porn.
The hesitation
the tug
the pull
the brittle things
the scripted clue
the smile
the why not?
the trip to the garden center
the dirt
the pot
the kick in the pants if they really did take root.
The story to tell
the box
the gift
the secret
the false bottom
the Valentiney notation about
the whirly bird seeds taken from under
the maple tree where
the distant relative who made
the box kissed his wife for
the very first time.
oOo
Among other places, T. L. Sherwood’s work has appeared in New World Writing, Jellyfish Review, Elm Leaves Journal, Page & Spine, and The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature. Her work was recently nominated by Fictive Dream for Best Microfictions. She lives in western New York. She blogs here https://tlsherwood.com/ and tweets there @ TLSherwoodTheW1.
Fictive Dream 