LadySmith
I rarely work with steel, hard
pitch, requires vigilance,
potent purpose, hammer-
strike, strike and strike again
Heavy wire, reveals,
gunmetal gilt, each skelp
and brand, a phantom
preview of finished finery
The mileage I get from
these brief encounters,
banks far more than
sterling or copper or bronze
The steel makes me
Admiral, hammers line
the bench, the steaming
quench. I am no one’s
Errand Girl.