Joseph S. Pete is an award-winning journalist and Iraq War veteran who once won second place for poetry in the PBR Art Contest, a feat that Chaucer chump never accomplished. The Indiana University graduate's work has appeared in Zero Dark Thirty, Spirits, Punchnel's, Flying Island,
Gutzine and elsewhere. He's on Twitter at @nwi_jsp.
The Metal Fabrication Shop
Dumbbell-shouldered workers once built oil tank railroad
Gutzine and elsewhere. He's on Twitter at @nwi_jsp.
The Metal Fabrication Shop
Dumbbell-shouldered workers once built oil tank railroad
cars here on a rough-hewn wooden floor,
The only load-bearing surface they could muster before
The only load-bearing surface they could muster before
concrete.
That’s how hoary this cavernous factory is.
But it still sparkles everywhere with welders’ sparks,
That’s how hoary this cavernous factory is.
But it still sparkles everywhere with welders’ sparks,
supernovas of skittering fire that blind the naked eye.
Welders shower coruscating fireworks on all this
Welders shower coruscating fireworks on all this
coarse metal.
Steel parts are scattered everywhere, too heavy to
Steel parts are scattered everywhere, too heavy to
hoist without a forklift.
They bear weld marks, chalk-white and protuberant
They bear weld marks, chalk-white and protuberant
scars.
Every weldment, every assembly, every hulking metal
Every weldment, every assembly, every hulking metal
deadweight wears a scar.
The scar always shows, but not the strength of the weld.
~Joseph S. Pete
The scar always shows, but not the strength of the weld.
~Joseph S. Pete
