I recognize the goodness
of your sturdy strength
and your willingness
to get completely dirty
and to muscle the heavy equipment
into the ground,
your endurance
and your experience
and the way you signal to each other
above the motor’s din and through your earplugs
and you both know
what you need to do

The joy in this shows through
like the brightness of your eyes
in mud-spattered faces,
and how you hold yourselves
after the heat of the day
and the hours of work,
fortified instead of slumped by labor.

©Wendy Mulhern
September 11, 2015