zeda

my maternal grandfather

was a tinsmith

also

actually

a metal pattern designer

but like many immigrants

left to the whims of the boss

it was

a tinsmith

catching the bus every day

for a short-changed pay envelope

and as my mother told it

the family fought off rats in their

cleveland tenement apartment

but zeda always kept his tools close by

cutting bending fabricating

the most sophisticated metal additions

to the walls & floors

blocking & frustrating the rodents

skilled hands protecting the family

like a joe louis left hook

off the jaw of max schmeling

--- e b bortz