Minnesota State Fair Poem: Work from Your Heart

Woodturner
Roger, a woodturner at the Minnesota State Fair
MPR Photo/Ochen Kaylan

Roger the Woodturner

by Leslie Ball

Roger the wood-turner

camps overnight up beyond machinery hill

up under the water tower

under the stars

before sunrise he hikes across the fairgrounds

to his workplace in Heritage Square

Roger looks like a six foot gnome

wire rim spectacles

thick strawberry beard

he seems as elemental

as the wood he shapes into bowls

this morning he works on a chunk of birch

wedged into an old lathe

above our heads

two slender branches span the ceiling

tips wrapped with rope

like a giant fishing line

that drops down to wrap around the spindle of the lathe

then continues down to the tip of the treadle pedal on the floor

where Roger stands

left foot pumping the treadle up and down

up and down

up and down

pulling the rope and spinning the wood

he is warm, welcoming

moving with steady calm

the rhythm of the lathe hypnotizes the crowd

the branches overhead creak softly

birch shavings curl up and float to he floor

I ask Roger if he is this calm away from the lathe

"Are you this patient out in the world?"

He answers

"I love my work.

I couldn't do this without patience

and doing this gives me patience.

If you work from your heart

you can't help but find peace

wood-turner

computer programmer

budget planner -

doesn't matter.

If you work from your heart

you can't help but find peace."