Monday, February 25, 2008

The avalanche barrier builder


Used to be an avalanche barrier builder

an' some look at my gait think I still am!

My hips used to contract on those radical slopes

like able cow or mountain goat

'cept with hammer, saw an a bunch of gear


I worked alone and in teams

bangin' dem barriers into place

forcing me bones into awkward positions

the slope was my foe and my job


If my movements were the same the valleys

differed

Osiris never a such a spectacle saw as me;

mere worker I chortled to myself

looking at a tiny village from below


My stickity fences did better than

girl scout cookies:

they held massive slabs of snow

otherwise ready to unleash like an attack dog

getting its order

taking with it the living and non-living
But conditions were tough, year after year we waged
battles with our union; an extra euro for every 100 meters
is all we got
Then, the snow melted
I drank a cup of tea on the unemployment line
Trying to conjure up other commercial ventures
for my barriers until
A day I was recycled to fix dams
my nose plastered against a 100 meter wall
tons of water on the other side
offered views unbeknownst.




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