Ode to Blue Collar Men

They wear tattered jeans
And sun burnished skin
While whistling the Blues.
Dust melts in sweat,
While backs ache
And souls revel in lusty tales
Peppered with laughter.
Muscles strain against nature,
Unyielding ,
Until defeated by fatigue
Or blood.
They endure long days,
Laid to rest with cold beer
And talk of loves lost.
Lives shortened by cigarettes
And never saying no
To a challenge.
They waltz in deep pits,
Or dance on steel beams –
Choreographed by fate.
With hands numb from cold
and faces creased from heat,
They endure.

By Paul Stansbury

Biography:

Paul Stansbury is a life long native of Kentucky. Now retired, he lives in Danville, Kentucky. He frequently reads his work in public. His poetry has appeared in Kentucky Monthly. His stories have appeared in the anthologies, Brief Grislys, published by the Apocryphile Press and Neo-Legends To Last A Deathtime published by KY Story. He has a story soon to be published in an anthology by SEZ Publishing. His work has also appeared in a variety of on-line publications.