Naming of the parts (Ukulele version.)

[Gyppo]

Naming of the parts.

My Grandaughter challenged me,
"Name the parts of your Ukulele."

So I did, from one end to the other.

Head stock, tuning pegs, nut,
neck, strings, frets."
She nodded her approval.
"Body, sound hole."
I turned it over,
tapped the underside,
"Belly."

"Didn't know that, Grandad.
Thought that was all just the body!"
"It's called the belly on a fiddle."

I saw her file that fact for later.
A temporary facial stillness,
and a little semi-blink,
shutting the mental file drawer.

"Bridge."
"What's the bit under the bridge?"
Damn!  My mind went blank.

I saw her face light up. Eyes watchful.
"I like seeing your brain ticking over.
It's funny when you get stuck."

No answer from my memory bank.
"Bridge support?"
Raised eyebrows, a gleeful little smile,
"That's what it does, not its name. "

"Okay, Smartarse, name that part."

"Saddle."

So we had a neuro-diverse detour,
comparing it to a horse saddle,
wondering why the bridge sat off-centre.
"If you sat on a horse like that,
you'd fall off.  Trust me."

Then we went back to strumming,
fretting, and trying to nail chords.
It's not really music yet,
despite occasional melodic moments.
But we made a joyful sound together.

Found we'd lost three hours.
and gained sore fingertips.

She already has gymnast's callouses
from swinging on bars, and groundwork.
I have residual ones from the Arena,
sword and staff callouses,
and space-bar callouses too.
The fret and strum ones are growing.

Every trade leaves it marks.

Gyppo

[Dave]

Hey Gyppo.
I very much enjoyed the poem. The title has echoes of a poem by Reed also called the Naming of the Parts, though that one is about military parts and less gentle and humane than this poem. It brought a condsiderable smile to my day.

[Gyppo]

Glad it made you smile.  It was triggered by a happy moment.

I remember the military 'naming of the parts'.  There was a chap who used to hang around the folk clubs of my youth who used to perform it, very much in the role of a sergeant instructing raw recruits, as one of his party pieces. [1]

The only line which truly lingers was this one, which memory tells me was the last line.

"...and this is the point of balance, which in our case we have not got."

I shall have to hunt it down before the day is out.

Gyppo

[1]  Another of his set pieces was Adrian Mitchell's - think I've recalled his name correctly - Tell me lies about Vietnam.

[Tracy Mitchell]

Gyppo--

A real heart-warming exchange, both the dialog and the non-verbal, which is several places just carries the narrative.

For my money, I'd consider cutting the last line.  It is a prosy conclusion which your poetry readers do not need.  But then, if had your story-telling ability, I am not sure I would listen to me about how to wind this up.

Cheers.

T