Uncle's Toolbox

a few years back
my uncle came over
flew over the ocean
just to visit our house

i forget if he rented a car
or pulled up in a taxi
if he walked across the lawn
a brown leather case swinging
by his side

dark aviators
disguising his face
did he look up at our cute house
shaded
and see past the yellow shutters
deep within the ancient wood
and sensed the cracks
that had started to form

when he woke the next day
and pulled his toolbox
out of his case
did he know that when
he paved over the edges
and smoothed out the stone
we all watched

he didn't seem to stop
because the next day when he woke
and pulled his toolbox
out of his case
he climbed far up into the sky
managed to both graze the stars
and clean the gutter

we all watched
as he clenched his fists
raised them high
and fought the weeds
by the side of the house

that week
he tried to fix all that was broken
he left feeling uneasy
he felt his toolbox was empty
knowing there was nothing he had
that could fix us

it's been four years
and he hasn't come back since