The oldest joke
in the world,
a chair on three legs.
Sawdust kicks
up,swirls
around his boots
and settles
in the cuffs of his
pants. The saw is
as nervous as
a parrot,
The chair
shrinks. After
years of cupboards
and end tables, after
a plywood Santa
and seven elves
for the lawn in snow,
he knows.
He's failed, and
in oak.
Next Christmas
he buys himself
and his son.