From my phone machine,
Two-L Willson spoke pleasure,
thanking me for suggesting
he Google “padlock parts.”
With a few strokes he teased forth
a reluctant key word
to turn a recently crafted
lament.
Though it’s charming when a shapely
word leaps to caress us, sometimes
it must be sought and wooed.
A true word Romeo stops at nothing,
however mad, bad, or dangerous
the seduction.
Brother Two-L,
you are
welcome.
John Willson is a fellow poet in my community, an all around nice guy, and leads a poetry workshop I often attend. One night John brought a fine piece which utilized his old high school Master combination padlock as the metaphor stitching together his reflections. None of us could name the part of the lock he was referring to as the “u-bolt,” which was clearly not the right word. Google came through. The true pleasure in John’s voice when he called was palpable, revealing that the missing word was “shackle.”
Thanks, Google.
Post a Comment