Evening Maintenance

I sat against the inner aluminum wall of the sardine tin to attend to overdue gear maintenance. Days on the capstone had packed fine brick dust into my boot treads and stiffened the knee pivots. I picked up a stiff, dry pine needle and systematically scraped the pale mortar crust out of each rubber groove until the black soles were clean. Along the rear seam, I collected a handful of dried moss flakes and arranged them into a level, cushioned pallet across the cold metal floor. Settling back against the tin corner with relaxed posture, I allowed my joints to rest in complete stillness.