The Friday Poem: ‘STIHL Power Equipment’ by Freya Daly Sadgrove
New verse by Wellington writer Freya Daly Sadgrove.
STIHL power equipment
I wanna be a tool for you
like I specifically wanna be your STIHL chainsaw
I want you dad-aged and swearing by me
cos I do such a good job
and I last exactly a lifetime—
I want you to be careful
about lending me to your friends
as in I want you to print out instructions for them
I want you treating me so lovingly
that it borders on anal
part of the appeal is that you can never blame tools
which just fits because nothing is ever my fault
I just do what I’m supposed to do
which endears me to you so much
you’ll feel compelled to acquire other smaller tools
especially for my upkeep
but I wanna be the only one
that you build a special shelf for in your shed
it’ll be like that one really crap Mutton Birds song
when a man holds a thing well made
there’s connection there’s completeness
—yeah I wanna give you that feeling
you’re just such a good honest kiwi bloke
and I really wanna give you that feeling
Freya Daly Sadgrove, 2017
Freya Daly Sadgrove
Freya Daly Sadgrove is a pākehā writer and performer from Te Whanganui-a-Tara, currently living on Gadigal Country in Sydney. She is the engine behind live poetry extravaganza Show Ponies, which has been performing to sold-out crowds throughout Aotearoa and beyond since 2019. Her first poetry collection, Head Girl, was published in 2020 with Te Herenga Waka University Press.
