Workin' Man's Blues



My two jobs just called and said they had no work,
the old boss in one is such a friggin’  jerk,
     bank just called reminding me that I had bills to pay,
I’m telling ya, man, its been a hell of day!

     My wife was sick and had to go to the doc,
he said he had the stuff she needed and gave her a shot,
    she kept on coughing lots more as she walked away through his door
she sputtered all night until her ribs were sore.

    The wrecker was coming to take my car,
 but I wished real hard upon a falling star.
    Some still think I got it made in the shade,
come night time I run the woods with my traps and spade.

    I work for cash and I am never late,
the skill I perform is always first rate.
    I travel in style and carry myself with pride,
when I walk passed the riff-raff steps to the side.

    I will labor for gold coin, but I might take it in trade,
honey we can go down there under the willow tree by the pond glade.
    I’ve done it before but not in a long while,
I come out of the hollow wearing a glowing smile.

   I hunt for fossils for exchange or sale,
but ‘coon or gator hides do mite near as well.
  I sieve creek banks for rubies and emeralds, but there is never enough,
this life in the woods is making me strong and tough.

  I caught a big deer with number nine wire,
I cooked him up well in a great big bonfire.
  The hill billies came from many miles around,
paying in heaps where booze and new flesh might well be found.

    I’m telling you boys, this is some kind of life,
some days filled with adventure, a few more with strife,
    An otter hide on his knife, meat on his stick,
gotta live this hard just to keep from getting sick!

   You readers may think all of this is only shuck and jive,
but, man, I’m tellin' ya, it takes it all to survive.
   I labor six days a week and go to church on Sunday,
so I can drink and whore from Saturday to Monday.
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Submitted by srhenterprises0520 on October 24, 2019

Modified by srhenterprises0520 on November 16, 2019

1:52 min read
16

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABB XXCC DDEE FFGG EEHH XXII JJKK LLMM NNBX
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 1,867
Words 376
Stanzas 9
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

H.L. Dowless

The author is an educational instructor internationally and stateside. He has been a writer for over thirty years. His publishing credits for 2019 alone include two volumes on American History by Algora Publishing, Leaves Of Ink, Short Story Lovers, Frontier Tales, CC&D Magazine, The Scarlet Leaf Publishing Company, and Juste Milieu Lit & Art Zine. more…

All H.L. Dowless poems | H.L. Dowless Books

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