The Perfectionist

The craftsman is that most viscerally
puzzled of creatures, humble before
his craft, given to the construct and
devotion of his creations to focus
entirely on perfection achieved in
his dreams, but never quite fulfilled.
The goal eludes his fecund, creative
mind, his exquisitely nimble fingers
despite his intimacy with a muse
that never leaves his side, tantalizing
with her sweet goading promises,
urging his meticulously laid designs
to fulfillment. Each agonizingly
completed project appears to him
an insipid reflection of the gem
whose brilliance he took such care 
in fashioning. It seems to him as
though his past is littered with the
detritus of promise gone awry. He
despairs that his errant art will ever
reach a pinnacle of achievement. It
is as though he prides himself as
the meticulous creator of all he observes,
witnessing birth, decay and death.