Labour Day
The man asked the other day
In the big box store.
Summer has expired
And now he returns to work
With projects unfinished.
I smile, being a writer,
Knowing each day
There’s another project waiting.
But where’s the working class?
The thought haunts me
As I drive back through our Victorian village
Admiring the stately houses.
More than a century has passed
But these brick dowagers
Have aged quite well—
They look bright and cheery
In the mid-afternoon light
Filtered through leafy Maples.
They remind me somehow
Of an aged port wine
Mellowed in oak casks.
For one moment, in the trembling light,
The dappled wooden porches
Are peopled with women in long dresses
Wraiths from a gentler time,
Basking in the last rays of summer
With their husbands,
Enjoying a break from the grind.
Six days of labour and late hours
For one day of rest
And a yearly holiday…
It hardly seems worth it.
But here we are
In the twenty-first century
Trying hard to fake it—
I hark back to a gentler time
When holidays meant something,
And rang soft with muted church chimes.
Esa misma pregunta me hago yo, @johnjgeddes? Quién nos ha quitado los meses, por dónde se han ido los días? Las vacaciones, como agua entre los dedos, se han deslizado sin dejar rastros de su paso. El mismo cansancio, la misma rutina de los días vuelven a acumularse en las horas lentas de un reloj convenientemente oxidado. Yo también recuerdo aquellas vacaciones preñadas de colores y risas que hoy son eco. Es septiembre ya! Un abrazo
Gracias, Nancy. Recuerdo a Milton cuando escribió que Time era el ladrón sutil de la juventud que ha robado sobre sus alas nuestros preciosos años ... hoy en día la gente incluso se resiente de las vacaciones y los ve como una interrupción de su rutina familiar, que le dice yo que nadie está trabajando lo suficiente más para esperar unas vacaciones
I applaud the sentiment you expressed here, John. Oh, and happy Labor Day!
Thanks, HP - Happy Labor Day to you too (American spelling, lol)
I laboured long and hard over the spelling. ;-)
ha ha
I read a beautiful poem
Congratulations @johnjgeddes!
You raised your level and are now a Dolphin!