Oddball Magazine will be publishing ongoing tributes to José Gouveia to in the hopes of raising awareness of the Joe Gouveia Recovery Fund, an effort to help offset the costs of the poet’s upcoming cancer surgery.

 

Building to Last
for Joe Gouveia

In that silent moment before the whining blade
fills the air with sawdust, you check once more
to make sure the board is perfectly aligned,
your hand tracing the maple’s grain
like a salmon following a river’s flow.
“Measure once, cut twice,” the saying goes.

Close enough isn’t good enough for you.
You are building to last as you shape,
and are shaped by, the wood.

 

Poet Charles Coe is the author of the volumes Picnic on the Moon and All Sins Forgiven: Poems for My Parents. His work has been published in numerous journals, literary magazines and anthologies. Charles has been selected by the Associates of the Boston Public Library as one of the six “Literary Lights of 2014.”

“Joe, there are more people pulling for you and thinking about you and praying for you than anyone could count. We all have your back and know you’re going to come out on top. Peace, my brother…”

Oddball Magazine will be publishing ongoing tributes to José Gouveia to in the hopes of raising awareness of the Joe Gouveia Recovery Fund, an effort to help offset the costs of the poet’s upcoming cancer surgery.