the mistakes he made
I
Ralph
lost three of his fingers
while on the job
at his factory
at the time
medicine couldn’t save
his fingers
after that,
whenever
Ralph
looked at his
fingers,
he thought
of the mistakes
he made
II
Ed
while working with a
circular table saw
reached up
above him
for a piece
of wood
and when the wood
slipped
he cut off
the tips of
two fingers
once at the
hospital
he called
his son
asked him to check
the sawdust-
covered floors
around the
workbench
to see if he could
find them
the doctors tried
to reattach
the tips,
but they
didn’t take
after that,
whenever
Ed
looked at his
fingers,
he thought
of the mistakes
he made
III
Lester Massey
agreed with
a friend
to each chop off
a finger of
the other’s
but after
his friend
chopped off
Lester Massey’s
finger
he changed
his mind
about losing
his own
after that,
whenever
Lester Massey
looked at his
fingers,
he thought
of the mistakes
he made
Copyright Janet Kuypers.
All rights reserved. No material
may be reprinted without express permission.
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