The Sunday Poet: Ed Meek

Ed Meek is the author of the poetry collections "Spy Pond" and  "What We Love." He also has a collection of short stories out titled, "Luck."



Idling

He was good with his hands;

my father could fix

a leaky faucet or

a squeaky hinge.

He’d take on projects

whenever he’d visit—

he always brought his tools

in the trunk of his car.

He liked to keep them handy

in case the dishwasher

refused to start

or the wires crossed in a lamp

or a screen slider

slid off the track.

He tried to teach me

how to wield a wrench

and I was happy to crawl

beneath a car

to replace the shoes,

or hover over an engine

and with his guiding hand

adjust the idle

but my mind

was always

elsewhere thinking

of Holden’s phonies

or Nick’s river

or Emily’s eternity

and the way

words sounded

when you put them together

and turned them over
in your mind.