When the factories
sang for me.
I heard their song.
Now no one knows
my work.
How the hand welcomed
the wrench
became one
pulling
all that’s loose
tight.
The machines
waiting to be loved
worked and love back.
In the last days
walking the floors
saying goodbye,
not to the men
but to the sounds
having shared
their secrets
of the weak
being broken.
Looking back
the shadows
ask
who you’ll be
without me?
The truck
reluctant to start
slow
through the gates.
The guard doesn’t know
I will not
be back.

BILL GAINER is a storyteller, humorist, poet, and a maker of mysterious things. He earned his BA from St. Mary’s College and his MPA from the University of San Francisco. He is the publisher of the PEN Award winning R. L. Crow Publications and is the ongoing host of Red Alice’s Poetry Emporium (Sacramento, CA). Visit him in his books, at his personal appearances, or at his website: billgainer.com.