Best On Work And Workingfather Poems
Hamilton, Ontario,
Is a steel making town.
You can hardly tell it,
When the sun goes down.
The slagpiles glow as the big furnace throws,
Another batch of ore.
Big ingots sit on the railway cars,
Behind the big steel doors.
They call this place DeFasco
One of the largest in the land.
It has dirty little secrets,
Buried in the sand.
Something happened one autumn night.
I'd heard the older men tell.
The shift boss heard someone screaming.
It came from the bowels of hell.
A father and son were working,
Breaking slag from a big ladles spout.
The young man couldn't get out of the way.
When the molten metal poured out.
The molten metal mixed with the mud,
To make a sticky muck.
By the time the father turned around.
He saw his son was stuck.
The boys workboots were on fire.
As he was buried to his knees.
Even his asbestos clothing ignited.
He begged to his father,"Please,"
"Put me out of my misery,
I know my days are done."
His father pushed him under the slag.
He killed his only son.
They found the old man later that night,
Running circles in the rain.
They say he never spoke another word.
They say he'd gone insane.
Sometimes during my coffee break,
I'll sit and I'll think a while.
I often find myself wondering.
Just what's under that pile.
They call the place DeFasco.
One of the largest in the land.
It has dirty little secrets,
Buried in the sand.
Note; I worked at the DeFasco Steel mill in the early nineties, and was told this story.
The child set the wood against her raised chin
High up, to place the very last big piece
No less assured of her father's great praise
Than at anytime had ever she been
Wanting to fulfill his expectations
Of a child who was very brave and strong
But could not draw the water from deep well
For the rope was much to long__well deep
My father loved me so so much he did
He always came to my aide__ease my load
By telling me (my child) that's too heavy a load
As I drew that heavy water, each turn
Would get much harder_just in nick of time
There he would step by my side__reach for rope
Ease the strain, ease my load _my father_(my) guide
As the red sun rises, the birds chirp thank you Father for this day