My box is made of oak,
my lover’s gift to me.
He fitted hinges and a lock
of and a bright key.
He made it out of winter nights,
sanded and oiled and planed,
engraved inside the heavy lid
in , a tree.
In my box are twelve black books
where I have written down
how we have sanded, oiled and planed,
planted a garden, built a wall,
seen jays and goldcrests, rare red kites,
found the wild heartsease, drilled a well,
harvested apples and words and days
and planted a tree.
On an open shelf I keep my box.
Its key is in the lock.
I leave it there for you to read,
or them, when we are dead,
how everything is slowly made,
how slowly things made me,
a tree, a lover, words, a box,
books and a tree.