Tuesday, December 13, 2022

15,866. LEARNING THE WAYS OF TALK

LEARNING THE WAYS OF TALK
The streetsides empty out, to where the
coal cars dwell. Small men in flannels,
with shovels and pick-axes pass. I never
know what anyone is doing. There's a
diner by the siding where seven people
sit; I'm counting the heads I see. 
-
I wonder about the men I am watching;
where do they live and how they have
come to be here? Do they each have cars
and houses, or do they live together
in some railroad-hovel rooming house?
How long does their workday last, and
of what order is their pay? They almost
seem like prisoners on a work-crew.
-
And then, like the fool, I start to thinking - 
if they told me these things I'd not believe
them anyway. I'm too much the suspicious
kind for that : taking other men's words
at face value. No thanks, thank you.

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