Building a Treasure

Here's another free-verse poem inspired by one-on-one time with my daughters...

Building a Treasure

We drew up plans
My daughter and I
For a tea cup rack we saw in
A woodworking magazine

We would build it together
As a gift for her mother
We would make it out of solid cherry
And take no shortcuts in the construction
Because we wanted to give her more than a cup rack
We wanted to give her an heirloom

Slowly, meticulously
We transferred the plans to the wood
Made our cuts with saw and router
Assembled it with dowels
Sanded it, oiled it and rubbed out the finish

We stood back and admired our handiwork
We both agreed that you couldn't buy
A finer rack anywhere
I hugged her and she hugged me back
"Thank you, Daddy" she said

Looking back over the years
Only now do I fully realize
That two priceless treasures were made that day
One of wood and
One of clay