Nick Chopper Lays Down His Axe
by Ed Werstein
The Tin Woodman, originally an ordinary man, Nick Chopper (the name first appeared in
The Marvelous Land of Oz, by L. Frank Baum), used to make his living chopping down trees
in the forests of Oz.
for Sylvia
I never saw the woods like this before
every tree sacred
the forest a cathedral.
Yesterday I spied her
a sprite, a spirited sylph
dancing in a clearing
around the altar
of a felled trunk.
I was blinded
like Paul on the Damascus Road
forever altered
forever her disciple.
And when my vision cleared
I gazed into the polished metal
of my axe and saw myself
real and true for the first time
a hollow man
heartless
as a money changer
in this wooded temple.
I am the Tin Man
whose tears of remorse
now rust my hinged joints.
I stand here motionless
empty
praying for holy oil
from the sylvan goddess
to liberate my dance of joy.
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