Metalwork

Metalwork

We bought 5,000 tons of steel,

here in this eastern town towered with trees

and stacked it to the left

of the warehouse, with no one

who wanted it. Its presence let us tell ourselves

we had something to protect us. At night,

when the moonlight hit it right,

it looked the silhouette of workers

waiting for a new job, eyes watching everything,

and the buyers sold out

a month later. We recognized the signs,

but scraped together some cash and our iron fists.

There’s no metal less pliable

than stubbornness, and we specialized in resistance.

Even with work floors thinning out

and the roof weighing heavier

on our wallets, who would admit it?

The Chinese came like tourists and took

photographs; we didn’t object.

They asked about the brick building abandoned

by the previous company, the one who knew nothing

about metalwork. We had it filled

with workers, once, but then it was closed

and though the rooms were clean and the machines

only a little rusty, within the slow gears

of our minds, we knew what brokenness looked like

and told them not to enter.

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Sometimes, oftentimes really, I'll here someone say something or describe an occurrence in their life or in the life of a cold friend and I am moved by a certain wording. I can't always describe why it is, but a phrase or two will stick with me. So it was tonight, hearing a friend of mine whose nephew is a buyer once worked for a company that bought and then sold or used steel (and probably other things too). The first thing that stuck with me was the image of 5,000 tons of steel being bought and stacked next to the building that they were unable to sell. The next thing that stuck out to me was when he said "When the Chinese came and took photographs, they didn't object." Something about that just struck me as a sad image for a factory / company. I'm not well versed in business, but having recently read a poem that used the "we" point of view, I wanted to try it out in this poem to paint a picture that would describe the situation and help us feel it as well. Although I have no idea how similar companies are doing nowadays, the overall struggle for jobs is, I believe, relevant.

So, I hope you enjoyed the poem and as usual, if you have any feedback at all I'd love to hear it.