Toolsheds
for Ted & Shelly
My neighbor across the cove
hauls gravel in a wheelbarrow
from the mound at the end
of his driveway to the section
of lawn where the new toolshed
will be built to replace the old.
The cove is wide enough that
I can’t see the gravel or the
wheelbarrow, but I see him
methodically march to and fro,
bending to scoop more gravel
with a shovel I also can’t see.
It’s all in his white T-shirt – a ghost
laboring the wheelbarrow from
point A to point B. He passes
the old, weather-beaten, rotting
shed, also a ghost leaning against
the sky, nodding to the T-shirt
as he passes, wondering how
in the world it has come to this.
Cottages
Hacketts Cove, N.S. May, 2024
The dock of the cottage two doors down
juts into the cove like an old, gray chin
with all of its earned defiance, daring
the wind and sea to do something about it.
Four lonely white rockers rock with the stiff
wind from Saint Margaret’s Bay, occupied
by long gone lobstermen who built
the structure, God knows when, to be
a fish shack with an unfancy bed. Maybe
they plan to haunt this new family
who won’t arrive till July, maybe June,
giving them time to loosen floorboards,
unglaze a few windows, or however ghosts
mess with the livings’ heads. They sway,
have a hearty laugh on the summer people.
Case in point: the folks two doors up
who paid nearly a million for something
less than $4,000 built in the 40’s. And then
they go and plop a hot tub in the yard
as if living by the sea isn’t cool enough.
Did I mention the outdoor kitchen?
If I was dead, I’d laugh, but I’m not.
I sit on my deck in earshot of their pretension.
Sipping Chardonnet. Writing poetry.
Bill Garvey’s collection of poetry, The basement on Biella, was published in 2023 by DarkWinter Press. His poems have been published or are forthcoming in Rattle, One Art, San Antonio Review, Connecticut River Review, Cimarron Review, Nixes Mate Review and others.
Bill is a dual citizen of Canada and the USA. He is retired, and lives in Nova Scotia and Toronto with his wife, Jean.