laboring alone

mud,

splattered on my face,
my boots, my jeans.

testament to work in the cold outdoors.

unnoticed by the passersby.

just another laborer in a nondescript field. alone
in the rain in the midst of tall cornstalks.

first one weed pulled, and then another. over and over. bent.
hurting. tired, crying.

bleeding hands and heart, only to be washed away by
relentless rainfall.

4 February 2010 by Glen Alan Woods

another dragon, labor

he sits down,
the day's work done,
work clothes cloistered
in a cloud of dirt and grime.

the scars on his hands
are betrayed by blood,
but he bears the pain down,
grim satisfaction.

memories of labor
which will ever go untold
as alone he slays
another dragon.

11 March 2009 by Glen Alan Woods