Screwdriver Mathematics--By Carl "Papa" Palmer--United States

Screwdriver Mathematics

Lying up under the car

on the floor of the garage

I see his little feet arrive,

the shadow of his head

bending down to ask,

“Whattaya want, Dad?”

“Hand me that number two Phillips

on the workbench over there, son.”

I watch him switch his weight

from one little foot to the other,

step away, start back, stop,

turn around and then

scamper back to the car, 

leaning lower to ask,

“Dad, is the Phillips a plus or a minus?"

Carl "Papa" Palmer, retired Army, retired FAA, now just plain retired, lives in University Place, Washington. He has seven chapbooks and a contest winning poem riding buses somewhere in Seattle. Carl has been nominated for the Micro Award and Pushcart Prize.