Bending steel

I can bend steel!!

My calloused fingertips,

Are just senseless.

I open the paperclip,

And it yields,

I carefully straighten all the curves,

It’s nothing.

The metal feels hot,

But it does not sear.

I bow and curve and loop.

Twist the lines into shapes.

The kids love them

Giraffes, flowers, cars, transformers.

All just the st

eel I bent.

Thin rebar in a cardboard box.

Plastic coated at times,

Though I prefer the rawness,

Of the pressed alloy,

Snaking between my fingers.

Don’t need a welder’s arc,

I splice mine by sheer pressure.

Done, it stands firm,

Until it’s given as a prize,

For the best notebook.