Discovery

The box had not been opened
For twenty years;
So spring cleaning said —
Now it is high time
To clean out the
Bric-a-brac.

That’s how I found this
Jack.
Small bit, pot metal. six-pointed
Loner, now lost to the
Set.
Did you ever step barefooted on a Jack?

Jack? Oh
Much more than that —
It was owned by one of my
Daughters.
Which one? Sue, Andrea, Julia?
I know not. It doesn’t matter. It only
Whets the memory and Imagination,
For what it is, is
Existential rapture.

So ones, twos, threes
Right on up to sixes—
This jack was in the mood
And in some dear little hand.
I shall save it. and love it.
Cherish it. This is how cheap metal
Becomes
Precious Metal.

Overton Love Turner. Jr.
December, 1989