One by One

This is a poem I wrote back in my Prague days after watching a street repair crew work for an hour or so outside my flat window. Most streets and sidewalks in the older parts of the city are still built by hand with various sizes of cobblestones. It took hours and hours for the crews to complete a single block of sidewalk. It was a dedication to craft that most here have forgotten. Maybe it is impractical, but it sure is beautiful.

one by one
doran damon okkema

a worker sits
on cobbled rock
taps each stone
block by block

an age old craft
passed down by hand
the ancient art
man by man

a tapestry
a pebbled rose
slabs connected
row by row

step by step
and street by street
thrum worn down
by travelers'’ feet

a mason'’s work
is never done
when stones are broken
one by one