I overheard an overshoot:
She should have
shut the fuck up
after he called down
the measurement
but she couldn't help herself
from returning a failed favor.
"Semper fi," she whined
to the carpenter above
who'd measured
the steel beam's width
since she didn't have a ladder.
He appeared puzzled
ten feet in the air
then recalled the Marine Corps
sticker on his lid.
"It was my son," he stated slowly
returning his tape measure
to its holster on his belt.
"Thank him for his service,"
she asked of this stranger
foolishly proud
of her daily good deed.
"I can't," he said succinctly.
Over the cement mixer
over the excavator
over the jackhammer
over the shriek
of iron sharpening iron
I could hear an asshole pucker
as another one walked away
and that's why
it's always best
to do our jobs
and go the hell home
while we still can.
Currently reading:
"Bukowski for Beginners" by Carlos Polimeni.
