For every hard labor
A dish of such flavor
As one does savor
And would keenly devour
As nutritive favor.
Next, you face the rigor
Requiring one’s vigor,
All along shorn of humor
For the sure strains and tremor.
So, no skipping of work song
Or the tasks shall last long
And you’d seem The Weakly Strong,
Eyeing more hands of a throng;
Even in heaven, quite wrong!
Then, for every hard labor
Even at a ship’s harbor
Work songs of the sonorous…
Need I list The Numerous?
Though millions are waiting without any work
We labor too hard for the lucky who shirk
We forfeit our rest for the job that we do
And working continues until we are through
If we should expire to rest just a bit
The man is a liar who calls you a twit
The foreman is ill so we work for his son
No battle this sick is a victory won
We labor all week and we labor too hard
We labor to sleep in the back of the yard
A pillow of leaves and a lawn for a bed
A willow should weep for the yawn in my head
The way that we band is for calm and restraint
The clay in our sand is a common complaint
The units we do by the proudest to know
Are more than just who is the loudest to blow
The job was completed but not without fun
The laugh that we needed was true for each one
The job on display was the hardest we did
The slob of the day was the foreman’s own kid
The pain in my heart is much worse in my head
The first thing I need is a room with a bed
The doctor is in but my luck has run out
The next job is waiting without any doubt.
Orpheus
by Michael R. Burch
after William Blake
I.
Many a sun
and many a moon
I walked the earth
and whistled a tune.
I did not whistle
as I worked:
the whistle was my work.
I shirked
nothing I saw
and made a rhyme
to children at play
and hard time.
II.
Among the prisoners
I saw
the leaden manacles
of Law,
the heavy ball and chain,
the quirt.
And yet I whistled
at my work.
III.
Among the children’s
daisy faces
and in the women’s
frowsy laces,
I saw redemption,
and I smiled.
Satanic millers,
unbeguiled,
were swayed by neither girl,
nor child,
nor any God of Love.
Yet mild
I whistled at my work,
and Song
broke out,
ere long.
I had a long, peaceful sleep last night,
didn't attempt to take a single bite;
hurriedly, I descend the steepest stairs...
to greet the coolest friend with braids!
It's wonderful to say, " Good morning!"
to anyone you happen to meet along
the busy street or avenue,
or whoever you bump into;
it's the grooviest greeting,
that can be so pleasing!
I've gotten back from work and taken off my black leather boots,
so glad I made home safely listening to some sweet tunes;
surely Delilah can pick the right song for the loneliest lover,
her radio show is flooded with requests from fans near and far!
" Good morning " are the nicest words that can make somebody's day less moody;
say them aloud with the sweetness and thrill of your favorite disc jockey,
who over the radio station waves kindly asks who is calling...
then shouldn't you hum that delightful song while you're walking?
And as you rush to your destination, shout with joy the grooviest greeting
that people are anxious to hear by starting their day with your, " Good morning! "