When the work is done...
Wake in the morning and plan out the day
You must be productive! No time for play.
Arrange your tools! Warm up the motor!
It’ll do the job fast, so said the promoter.
Toil and sweat, the heat beats your back.
Your throat is dry and your knees go “crack!”
A break for a meal is a welcome pause.
Quick bites from a sack, then back to the cause!
The hours trudge by, the feet are getting sore,
The end is nigh! Nearly the last chore!
The sun is near setting. The fuel running low.
The first night’s stars are beginning to glow.
Back home you plod, tired and dirty.
Thoughts of hot supper and bed by late-thirty.
Mud crusted boots are tossed to the side
Soiled clothes to the wash, to the tub your own hide.
As the day’s dust is shed and the muscles unwind,
You smile to yourself, another work day is behind.
~D.A. Stanley