by stevieslaw

Creator

I scan the pictogram again
for signs of my missteps.
The screw driver is depicted
at such an awful angle
my hands hurt
in sympathy.
The fluffy stuff
I thought was flotsam
had an essential purpose.
Too bad. I threw it out.
Is that the root of wobble?
I could not tell you.

The manual is given in six languages
and I cannot help but try to line
the Chinese and the English up.
I feel that save for words
we find on cookie fortunes,
this is as close as I can get
to understanding Chinese.
Sadly, I find, even this, impossible.

The flattened pictures are of little help.
How often are we left to navigate
with just a single sheet
of well-meant paper?
I tightly fold the manual in half,
and half it yet again.
I give it a thickness,
I give it a presence in the world
and when I place it under the offending leg,
I give it reason to exist.

165th Weekly Poetry Contest