James Adrian Aka the Boss

My father in law was a funny guy not given to doing much work With a house full of sons and daughters as well he found it easy to shirk His sons ran the saws in the forest the mule used to skid out the logs His contribution to sharpen the chains And decide when to call in the dogs At home women carried water to wash dishes humans and laundry The thought of picking a bucket up Threw the men folk into a quandary Women and kids worked the garden milked cows and carried wood In every climate with no reprieve It was just understood I felt I had stepped back in time Or to an alternate universe Tried to foment rebellion as the women Would grumble and curse never could get them to commit to on a strike just sitting down We've got to plant this tobacco was told before James gets back from town ...(With more) The old man was really quite clever In his backwoods hillbilly way He hitched the mule to bed springs that the kids rode without delay The soil boiling up and over and out till broke down as fine as could be Other than bossing this last lick of toil the very last we would see The ironic part he received an award for gardener of the year An award he often spoke of and One he clearly held dear He was the director on this set located in East Tennessee A way of life so deeply entrenched not unearthed by the likes of me