The last downsize.

[heslopian]

There once I cut the dried, dead poles of summer’s dahlia flags, What is the function of "there" in this sentence? I think it might make more sense if you put a comma after it, but it also makes the first two lines feel like an unfinished conjunction. That could be rectified by changing the semi-colon after "sand" to a comma.
and sulphur-stained I packed the corms corns in desiccated sand;
parcelled up in gift-box style for opening in spring. Some died, of course.
That was years ago; I left the knife, the grubby duster, the remnants of the year
upon the slatted bench. Very good sentence. I like the added detail that the bence was slatted. Small things like that add density. An ashtray, too, longer ago than I thought,
now topped up with wood chips Again, great little detail about the wood chips. ; I can just recall the last vexacious turning
on my squeaking lathe. The adjectives in this latter conjunction richen the broth too. A source of pride, a single table leg; never again. "Never again" feels nicely melancholy.

We will leave this place soon. Leave behind the tins and pots and poison jars,
the stiffened bristle brushes, kept in hope of rebirth and suppleness. Me too.
The chisels hang forlorn and yet still keen, never blunted by their purpose
in my time, yet sharpened every year, or so I tell myself.
It’s hard to say goodbye to friends like these. Solid, unchanged, ready for their task.
Like so many well remembered, but not seen for year on year, and yet
they will be missed. Is "and yet" needed? I cannot see that I will need them now; I once could. Overall, an excellent verse. Strongly descriptive, with subtle undertones.

What has changed? Them or me. A question mark should really go here. It seems that waste is not the crime it was.
Out go the rusting nails, the slot-top screws…. This ellipsis feels sloppy. Maybe you could just put three dots and a space? if only the cross-heads had not come along
this ethnic mix would, perhaps, be saved. No. It is time to go. There is always a time. This sentence feels like it's telling what the previous sentence shows. I think it could easily be removed.
They rattle through the heap of broken canes, paint-stained cans, evil bottles, metal tube,
corroded iron, broken trowels, a million plastic pots ( I always kept just one or two)
and then silence. I am suddenly transfixed. This edifice before me is my life.
Or strangely, I say inside, my old life. A broken-glass picture tumbles down; my last dog. I don't think you need this last couple of sentences. Again, they feel like they're telling what the previous sentence shows. "This edifice before me is my life", in my opinion, would be a much stronger close.

Tectak
June 2012

Critique is JMHO. On the whole this is a really good poem. I like how it channels so much raw emotion through such simple images and ideas. Thanks for the read.