retaining wall considerations

in appreciation of my husband’s skill

with your engineer’s eye
stand back
take in the slope
and the fence behind
consider your approach
in silence, walk away
it’s time to stew

repeat three or four times
eventually, you form a plan
the build begins
you shape the land
smooth the ground
lay base for
your first stone

over the days
the wall displays its shape
you stand back
considering again
where you’ve been
and what you’ve done that
shapes what’s next to come

there are surprises
when excavating for a wall
your trowel hits
concrete buried deep
it sets you back
but not for long
soon concrete’s gone

when your work’s
complete, stones fit
the land so well
they frame the hill
it’s confounding
to imagine what
the land looked like before

2023 ©Amrita Skye Blaine
I’m writing a poem a day. These are drafts—not final versions.