I find the shovel in the garage

Under a rake

Leaning

The shovel is indestructible

wood that's solid

Leathery

And a blade that rusted

And yet still

Cuts

Deep into my memories

To a playground

Long gone

Where I dug canals

And learned how

Bugs dance  

I think of how I dug up the lawn

and created castles

Unapologetically

I have forgotten how worms wiggle

Licking my hand with their

Small life

I only now recall

How rock and metal

Create music together  

I can again see how

Roots shoot  

In bolts

I believed that they were electricity

Trapped under the Earth

When lightning fell  

I feel once more;

How the sun burns;

How the garden hose tastes;

How a thorn pricks;

How dirt grinds under fingernails

But I look at the shovel

And place it back

The garage slams shut