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This poem is taken from PN Review 36, Volume 10 Number 4, March - April 1984.

The Axehandle Robert Wells
Calling my eyes back from the sea
-With adoration I watched the horizon lift
Above the headland, far up against the sky -
And looking instead for a human token
Even at this distance, to hold me back,

I noticed the axe where I had put it aside
-How the balanced ashwood handle
Was like a limb with its muscle shaped to use,
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