Standing in a steel merchant’s warehouse amongst thousands of tonnes of structural steel, I was struck by the ubiquity of this material. You would be hard pressed to stand anywhere populated in most countries and not be able to point at an example of this product – after all, the majority of us move ourselves around in boxes made of the stuff.

I’m amazed at the sheer variety of shapes and sizes available to the average Joe.

Thus, an idea for a rhyme was formed:

Steel in front and
Steel behind.
Steel of every different kind.
Steel with holes and
Steel that’s bent
The list of shapes it never ends;
L’s and I’s and H’s too,
Steel as mesh to see right through.
Steel for fence and roof and porch
To house your kin or car or horse

And when its life has run its course
Is crushed to send it back to source
Reform itself in other ways
To live again another day.