THE FORMER MINER RETURNS FROM HIS FIRST DAY AS A SERVICE WORKER (AT A MCDONALD'S SOMEWHERE IN APPALACHIA)
All day he crushed the spongy buns, pawed at
The lids of burger boxes and kiddie pacs
As if they were chinese puzzles.
All day long his hands ticked, ready to latch on
Or heave or curl around a tool
Heavier than a spatula,
All day he rubbed his eyes in the crisp light.
All day the blue tile, the polished chrome, said
Be nimble, be jolly, be quick.
All day he grinned while the public, with bland
Or befuddled faces, scowled over his head
And mumbled, whispered, snarled, and snapped.
All day his coworkers, pink and scrubbed,
Prattled and glided and skipped while he,
All bulk and balk, rumbled and banged.
Near shift's end he daydreamed - of the clang
Of rock on steel, the skreel
Of a conveyer belt, the rattling whine
Of the man-trip, the miner's growl of gears
As if gnarled, toothing at the seam.
He makes his slow way home, shadow among
Roadside shadows, groping back in himself
For that deep, sheltering dark.
He has never been so tired.
His hands have never been so clean.
-
All day he crushed the spongy buns, pawed at
The lids of burger boxes and kiddie pacs
As if they were chinese puzzles.
All day long his hands ticked, ready to latch on
Or heave or curl around a tool
Heavier than a spatula,
All day he rubbed his eyes in the crisp light.
All day the blue tile, the polished chrome, said
Be nimble, be jolly, be quick.
All day he grinned while the public, with bland
Or befuddled faces, scowled over his head
And mumbled, whispered, snarled, and snapped.
All day his coworkers, pink and scrubbed,
Prattled and glided and skipped while he,
All bulk and balk, rumbled and banged.
Near shift's end he daydreamed - of the clang
Of rock on steel, the skreel
Of a conveyer belt, the rattling whine
Of the man-trip, the miner's growl of gears
As if gnarled, toothing at the seam.
He makes his slow way home, shadow among
Roadside shadows, groping back in himself
For that deep, sheltering dark.
He has never been so tired.
His hands have never been so clean.
-