The Poet’s Mechanic
The poet conjures the moon as a metaphor just as the mechanic conjures a socket wrench to tighten a bolt. They are tools of a trade. They have a particular application and a use. That use is all the better understood through many long and toilsome hours with the objects of the craft. The more familiar the tradesman is of the tools the more acutely the vision will be rendered and so function. The mechanic browses over the tools of the trade as does the poet. The fact that one is a matter of the mind and the other not is only relevant for a period of time that is of no consequence to either the mechanic or the poet.
There is a need and that need is bound to the Earth and Borges says the moon is like the face of time and the mechanic tightens the wrench and the car finally starts with a shutter and the mechanic and the Borges drive away leaving their handiwork idling there for anyone to see and always at the ready for whomever might be looking for a ride.
