We know nothing of the man
who fashioned it
or its first use
in any case that was at least
a hundred years ago
this elegant oak rocker
with its morticed joints
its curves and rich brown staining
that my wife found on craigslist
and with our granddaughter
due in three weeks it clearly merited
the drive into the Alleghenies
where we bought it
from a West Virginia matron
who remembered how she'd rocked
her baby daughter
now the mother of a teenage girl
in this same chair
which even then had long
been in the family
and now will once again be put to use
and perhaps passed along
to future generations
a work of craftsmanship
worthy of our respect
I'd say even a touch of reverence