Sharon Hoffmann

A Boat in the Basement

In the years between the world wars,
my grandfather built a boat in the basement.
He was not a sailor or a sportsman. He didn't even fish.
But in the barbershop, he saw a fishing magazine
advertising EZ plans for boatbuilders.
After dinner, he would descend the stairs to the masculine space
of tools that cut, curved, sanded, and shaped wood.
Eventually, the neighborhood men would join him in the cellar to drink and kibbitz.
The motto seemed to be: Drink twice, measure once.
And so it came to be that the boat was too big to go through the door.
My grandfather had to knock a hole in the cement foundation.
Drink, build, destroy. This is my heritage.

Share your comments on our Community Billboard

Sharon Hoffmann is a writer based in Atlantic Beach, Florida. Publications include The Hooghly Review, New York Quarterly, Beloit Poetry Journal, Alice Walker: Critical Perspectives (Harvard University Press), Wild Roof, Sho Poetry Journal, Blood+Honey, and other magazines. Awards include fellowships from Atlantic Center for the Arts and Florida’s Division of Cultural Affairs, three Pushcart nominations and a nomination for Best Spiritual Literature.