CRACKER
+++
hey brother lets go out
and blow off some steam
we’ve all been workin towards
the American dream
+++
thirteen hour shift
deep in a earth shaft
fourteen ton haul in
daily coal draft
+++
we got no time
for the fishin today
the stream soot black
and the fish gone away.
+++
the air full of grit
in this broken bone town
everybody’s glued
their eyes to the ground
+++
overheard the wife
talkin the other day
wants to grab up the kids
and move far way.
+++
we came to this country
with nothin but a name
traded that too
to play the immigrant game
+++
coal minor,draft writer
it don’t mean a thing
we’re all workin toward
the American dream
+++
well times marchin on
i got some money in the kittie
gonna send all kids
to the big college city
+++
Hey brother lets go out
and blow off some steam
we’re sendin our kids towards
the American dream
*

(for the salt of the earth)

* This is a poem written about my ancestors, who were slovac immigrants. They came lived in Spangler Pennsylvania–America, a quiet pretty little town, today. The coal mines are long gone.