Forty years I worked with fools,
Who measured wrong and mislaid tools,
But now my making days are done,
And soon Elias Grey will come
To measure me and notch a stick,
For just so long and just so thick.
Of all who know the saw and nail,
Not I, not one, could build as well.
They think that it will comfort me,
To rest in such high quality.
But my bent frame and his fine work
Will disappear into the dirt,
And one more year I’d take in trade
To sleep in something less well made.
Mike Norris
Lexington