More Than You Can Do
At first, you may think you can do anything,
don’t really need anybody who really knows
how when it’s done right it should be done.
So you get a shovel to dig a hole
except the ground is packed with clay and shale
and more digging’s needed than you can do.
You call a guy who digs holes for a living.
He shows up with a big digging machine,
runs it down the flatbed ramp, plays with some
joysticks and pushes pedals just right
for an hour and a half for a perfect hole
four feet deep, 30 ft long and 20 wide.
So you read about batter boards, transits,
chalk lines and the like, only discover
building a footer form’s not so easy, either.
You call another man who knows how
to cut, hammer together, and level
2 x 10s for forms, if he had to, in his sleep.
Unless you want to mix three cubic yards
of concrete yourself in a teeny wheelbarrow
with a cheap wheel I promise you will go flat,
its good to have a cement truck driver come
so you only have to almost break your arms
shoveling and smoothing what he brings.
Since it’s tough to haul ten tons of cement blocks
in your ‘95 Subaru, you may want the hauler
bring and unload all those bundles on pallets
with a crane right where they are needed,
him tugging levers with a surgeon’s touch.
You still think you can do almost anything
by yourself, so you mix mortar and start
lining up and stacking 40-pound blocks
until the guy who really knows how to lay
block stops by, squats, squints, and says
your first row looks like it has scoliosis.
Thinking it better to undo what you did
before the mortar sets, the blocks are broken
free, the footers chipped clean, your back is sore
but you start again with the blocks, the mud,
the level, and string line. When you’re seven
courses high on all four sides, it’s time to sigh
and say “I’ve almost figured how to lay block.”
Of course, “how to” books make the surface
bonding look simple, but do not mention
when you do it, really do it yourself,
your arm with the trowel and hand with the hod
feel ready to fall off and there’s a hammering
which builds in your chest that begs for a rest.
You might figure how to cut sill plates, screw them
to j-bolts but did I mention the digging machine
man must come back and cover up
the conduit lines, drain tile trenches and the rest
and nobody will ever see what you spent and did?
At first, you may think you can do anything,
don’t really need anybody who really knows
how when it’s done right it should be done.
But now that you know how little you truly know
and how much the artistry of others is needed,
you are just about ready to build a new thing.
–Angus Watkins