Ode to Tin Snips

Posted on June 2, 2008 by Dave Bonta
This entry is part 19 of 34 in the series Odes to Tools

Scissors with an overbite,
blades like quotation marks
devouring the text —
some lost codex from
the Aluminum Age —
& leaving in its place
a jagged rent: massively
buck-toothed myself,
I know how elusive
a clean break can be.
Despite what orthodontists
would have us think,
a naturally straight bite
is a rare thing.
Most of us learn early
how to compensate,
squaring the circle,
holding our heads over
whatever plate, baring
our lips in the inevitable
tin grin.

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About Dave Bonta

Dave Bonta (bio) crowd-sources his problems by following his gut, which he shares with one quadrillion of his closest microbial friends --- a tight-knit, symbiotic community comprising some 500 different species of bacteria, fungi, and protozoa.
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8 Responses to Ode to Tin Snips

  1. lissa says:
    June 2, 2008 at 11:00 am

    Most of us learn early how to compensate… wonderful, powerful ending.

  2. marja-leena says:
    June 2, 2008 at 11:38 am

    Wow – love this!

  3. Dave says:
    June 2, 2008 at 3:17 pm

    Thanks, lissa and marja-leena. The weird thing is I actually ended up using tin snips this afternoon. It wasn’t the poem’s influence; they were the only possible tool for the job (removing some old gutters from a high roof).

  4. Dick says:
    June 2, 2008 at 5:08 pm

    Another fine addition to the list. There’s a chapbook in the making here.

  5. dale says:
    June 2, 2008 at 7:35 pm

    Oh, this is terrific! My favorite. Except for the other ones I’ve designated my favorites. Or maybe not even them. “Some lost codex from the aluminum age” — !!!!!

  6. sarah b says:
    June 3, 2008 at 6:27 am

    I laughed out loud at “the aluminum age.” I HATE using tinsnips – always injure myself and always do a bad job cutting – makes me feel like I’m back in first grade.

  7. Joan says:
    June 3, 2008 at 1:58 pm

    Two images from the poem of snips with an overbite came to me. “Codex from the Aluminum Age “—One long ago Mother’s day my cub scout actually gave me words laboriously cut from aluminum cans nailed to a wooden plaque. It said ‘Home Oh Home’. For years I worried that our home was not sweet enough. I finally asked him. He said “Mom, there wasn’t enough room on the plaque!”.

    The second was farther back when I and a 12 year old pal not realizing they were not hedge clippers “borrowed” my father’s tin snips to trim our way into a heavily vined alcove in a nearby cliff. Dad was not pleased, although I failed to see how shrubbery could “ruin” something meant for metal. Anyway, grindstone to the rescue where “A gleaming new moon would rise from century-old rust.”. (and some pollen)

  8. Dave says:
    June 3, 2008 at 3:45 pm

    Thanks, all.

    sarah b – “makes me feel like I’m back in first grade” – I agree. They’re pretty much designed for hack jobs, though, that’s the thing.

    Joan – Those are great stories; thanks. Interesting that both involve children, given Sarah’s observation.

    I’d love a plaque like that – it’s so much more poetic than “home sweet home”!