Full bodied tool many years in use
Filed sharp as it hangs in the shed
Quietly removed from the hook
the gardener carries it over the shoulder  

Beginning  first row the hoe glides
The sound it makes as it moves through dirt
is soothing and sublime  

As it strikes a small rock there is a clink
Stones do have a use although away from the row
Garden soil offers small resistance
Rhythm is steady as the mounds gather close
to potato plants willing to receive their embankments  

At days end the hoe is reverently
scraped and washed
After a cloth dries it
a few passes with the file renew the edge  

Back on the hook in the dark
the hoe waits for the next task
The gardener has completed
another office of communion