near nightfall, past supper time,
where he stood at work still
with the adze, that had to be
finely used or it would wound
the user—a lean old man
whose passion was to know
what a man could do in a day
and how a tool empowered the hand.
He paused to warn: stay back
from what innocence made dangerous.
I stayed back, and he went on
with what he had to do
while dark fell round him.