Tau Poem by Keith Shorrocks Johnson

A young carpenter would use a T-brace
Nowadays to lock support and house beams
But then tenons, joints, pins and mortices
Were crafted to close together the seams.

Regardless, the workman crafts the lattice
To set out the frame on the foundation
Working with care under the open sky
To bind together design and creation.

Set in such a fashion to bear loads
With ribs of joists readied to carry boards
The body of the building can be floored
Topping out spaces - closure the reward.

And each upright speaks of the mystery
The arcane letters of the bridging cross
Tau, iota, eta - and Christ's mastery
At last of death itself and the soul's loss.