Home » Poems » Paul Willason » Bernie's Hardware Store

Bernie's Hardware Store


The wooden floor wore
decades of dust. 
Near the doorway
brooms grew out of a fire bucket 
and bloomed in an odd
array of heads. A pile of coir mats
lay stacked in a wheelbarrow,
all chorused in a WELCOME.

Bernie's store was a haphazard 
sprawl of hardware stuff 
and followed no order at least
by any stretch of logic.
Hammers were paired 
with paint, boxes of nails 
mixed company with hinges
and fittings for copper pipes. And yet,
Bernie had every item carefully
mapped in his head. 
Ask for something 
and he would take you 
straight to the spot.

It had the air of a serious place,
almost like a church. Tools were 
the blessed instruments 
of a sacred order, treated with care
and reverence. Back then
power tools were just coming in
but none contaminated 
the sanctified air of Bernie's 
hardware store.

On the back wall,
above the garden tools,
hung a plain wooden crucifix 
beside a picture of Bernie's 
late wife. From her lofty height
she seemed to look down
with an approving smile every time
the cash register rang,
accompanied by a “thanks”.

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J. Summers

Date: 11/29/2023 10:32:00 AM

We have a “Bernie’s” here in Bristol but in reality they get harder and harder to find. Great poem, thanks for the memories. John

David Fisher

Date: 11/28/2023 5:16:00 PM

Enjoyed your descriptive poem about Bernie's. At first I thought it was for the Bernie's hardware stores in Rhode Island, but it may not.

Paul Willason
Date: 11/29/2023 2:36:00 AM

Thanks David for entering the shop....the one referred to was in South Australia...but I think they were duplicated everywhere here and there in the US. They were marvellous places for a child. Kind regards.

Daniel Turner

Date: 11/28/2023 5:42:00 AM

I love reading nostalgia, Paul and this is right up there with the best. I really enjoyed my read. I wrote a similar piece entitled "Ya'll Come Back". I loved this one!

Paul Willason
Date: 11/29/2023 2:25:00 AM

Thanks Daniel....appreciate your comments. Should imagine the old family hardware store was common in the US as it was in Australia in the 50's and early 60's, then they all were made redundant by the big chain stores. They were magic to a young boy. Cheers mate.