Long Toilers Poems

Moments are not the retinue of time. There is one which

decides the turning point of mankind. I can’t hand over to sighs

that time which stands and beckons me. To hell with the shades

to recline and...

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As I think back to that dark time in our community I don’t know if I’d ever seen anyone quite 
like that (Cinder Girl). We girls thought she had (Lovely Bones). The last time I...

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Once upon a time
There was a man
Who lost his job
And his home
And his car
And he slept under a tree.

Simpleton that he was,
He never gave thought
To asking the oak's permission.

But the majestic old tree,
Being wise in...

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Nights of flying  dream world,
who might chase a raucous laugh,
or seek indeed  mirthful excitement,
the sort that has embroidered twists,
as is generally perceived by intention,
but epic hurdles formed in still frame, 
city snores past...

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(In the late 1300's, veteran painter Barna of Siena 
was killed when he fell from the scaffolding whilst 
working on "The Crucifixion", the final panel of his 
fresco cycle in the Church of the Collegiata,...

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An horrific situation happened in a country town.
The districts big employer has closed their factory down.
Twenty men had lost their job; the town had lost its soul.
Not one man was happy about going on the...

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Matchstick Bikes 

To tinkers and toilers 
     I salute, 
From mending boilers 
     to weaving jute, 
Man and boy 
     for generations, 
I...

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Azure blue skies weep in rent glacial torrents,
iridescent earth sun trap poised  to garner sympathy,
dark red cloud’s indignant float might yet rumble,
toxic deluge drenches mudbank plot as toilers whine,
thunderstruck I gaze at wild indigo...

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The Swallows

Like dotted foreheads of women, our land was dotted with swallows;
They had rap dances on the farmers’ ploughs and bulls’ yokes in the field
With feathery steps to the toilers’ footsteps till the land was...

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Slaves of wages for generations
long forgotten in history’s screenplay.
Each hand for a moment has held
the torch.
The people are waiting in lines.

All toilers have resisted.
All skins have felt the blaze of blood.
The people are waiting in...

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Plunging, lifting, plunging -as wind blew ashes all around -
the shovels' blades incised the cold and black encrusted ground.

Attached to shovel handles were the arms of skeletons - of men,
who pausing, hacked and wheezed; then...

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Wedding Kermesse

Common folk with few wants
(Toilers reaping earth’s bounty)
Enjoy life’s pleasantries
By escaping the harsh realities
Of day-to-day existence,
Expressed in a “Kermesse” dance
To the tune of simple instruments.

With joy in their hearts
And freedom unfettered,
They fling each other
Around...

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Tenebrous night steals autumn days,
Invading ink subtracts the breath of light,
With tarnished mingling edge,
With dusty dusk’s laments.

Tenebrous night of immutable grave,
Infiltrating melanin loots the golden glow,
Where criminal and crucifix sink,
Where dream and delirium drown.

We are...

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Verd meadow yon shadowed sequoias,
Patterns has lent the scope neath the petals,
Pixies wake on the tips of true choices,

Heightens an ochered sun amidst voices,
Looms about a faint trace of pink mettles,
Verd meadow yon shadowed sequoias,

Tattered...

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A feast of eye-catching hues swirl midair,
stoic fragile leaf a chill whisper,
overt orange, deep vein red,
pallid yellow, scaly amber,
jumble upon bright clad jumble,
earthbound mattress on a grey mud plot,
bald cypress, Norway maple,
crepe myrtle, pin oak,
shed...

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First of May, Workers Day 

The wind that blew cold from the north has slowed down,
First of May in the village and I hear silence speak. 
Workers day, the smithy’s hammer lies idle on the...

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The river of Benafim 

A long time ago (everything is in the past)
a river ran near the houses its water was calm and fresh
it came from the upland.
Parts of the river runs quite deep
we could...

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What to tell our children,
when we’re back from War,
back from Peace too,
from Death itself, -
what shall we tell them:
We looked for Love
but found it nowhere?
Looked for Freedom
but found it in slavery?
Longed for Happiness
but wedded Misfortune?
What...

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Gleeful roses turn to sullen churls,
And virgin smiles of shyest brides
Soonest morph into widowed furls;
Sad victims of your ill-bladed tides. 

Swearing lovers of staunchest troth
Must sample your bitterest swill too,
And forfeit bonds of grandest worth,
As...

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shining lights
hide the toil of millions 
in dark alleys.
in these dark corners 
gleaming sweat of men 
cannot be differentiated
from salty vapour of sea.
the toilers are used to 
sparkle and glitter
the lives of those 
who need...

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The blush of the early morning sun
Brings out the toilers to their toes.
Like myriad ants they crawl about,
Each one at his morning chores.

The open space, the parking lot
Or the narrow footpath tracks
Find these sub-human men
Squatting...

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