Dear Shed

you were erected in just one hour

between the heavy seasonal showers

of March. That memory will never fade,

perhaps because of how we made a special day

for you and me.  (It was my birthday too, you see!)

But that was only half the fun

because you were the first and only one

to have that day decreed to be a

National Day for Sheds.

 

 I remember well the day you came

although it was a crying shame

I had to work.  But it ended well

and I’ll tell you why.  My niece was free

to let the builders in, showing them, instead of me,

where to put you on the concrete square.

(It was a rectangle, to be fair!)

No matter Shed…

 

 You made me happy every single day

with your wooden tongue and groovy ways.

Outside you stood there felted and strong

caring for rakes, forks, and Billabong

bodyboards (no longer used).  The spider webs

gathered like dust.  But garden tools

no longer rusted like they did

before you came. 

 

From March to March I cared for you,

you must agree, you know it’s true.  I swept your

floors, and scrubbed your walls.  And even though

I am really small, I got a ladder to tend your roof.

Surely there is no greater proof of love? 

Your  mission now is to serve another

when they move in with their hover mowers,

spades and bikes.  Maybe even baby trikes

and scooters will reside inside

your walls of treated pine.

 

Not knowing when you will be opened again

I oil your lock, twist the key on its chain.

I latch the gate, lock the door, turn my back

but find there’s more to say.  I can’t walk away

without a last good-bye.  I wipe the tear

from my cheek and think about the years

our love has seen.  Four years,  not long

enough and yet, I get the feeling that

our love was never meant for ever.

Alone,  alas, I offer this my last endeavour,

a record of an enduring love for you,

Dear Shed.

© Jacqui Thatcher 2014

 

Poetry doesn’t always have to be serious….or elusive….or mystical….or impenetrable. 

This poem is entirely inspired because I am moving house and I am leaving behind my shed.  Dear Shed, it was the most important purchase that I made when I moved in 4 1/2 years ago, and so the occasion required some last words as a goodbye!  It was put up on my birthday so the day, to my colleagues, became known as National Shed Day.   An indulgent poem?  Maybe…..