Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE SHOP, by MARJORIE ALLEN SEIFFERT


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE SHOP, by                    
First Line: The shop is red and crimson. Under the forge
Last Line: And laugh together, and smoke at the day's end.
Alternate Author Name(s): Cypher, Angela; Hay, Elijah
Subject(s): Forges; Women


The shop is red and crimson. Under the forge
Men hold red bars of iron with black iron tongs.
It crashes -- sparks spatter out; it crashes again, again.
At last the iron is bent as it belongs.

Swedes, Norwegians, Poles or Greeks -- they are men:
They grin when they please, look ugly when they please;
They wear black oakum in their ears for the noise;
They know their job, handle their tools with ease.

Their eyes are clean and white in their black faces;
If they like, they are surly, can speak an ugly no;
They laugh great blocks of mirth, their jokes are simple;
They know where they stand, which way they go.

If I wore overalls, lost my disguise
Of womanhood and youth, they would call me friend;
They would see I am one of them, and we could talk
And laugh together, and smoke at the day's end.





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