Labor

Lay those bricks and crunch those numbers

Ease a patient’s constant pain

Clear debris where it encumbers

Help an addict to refrain

Pick a crop in blazing hot light

Guard an outpost in the gloom

Flip the eggs adjust the spotlight

Take the guest’s bags to her room

Coffee’s brewing–thank baristas

Bus ride home safe–thank the drivers

Awesome clothes–thank fashionistas

Thank YOU, Movers, Shakers, Strivers!

***

Today is the first Monday in September, making it Labor Day in the United States of America. It is my day off from paycheck-earning work, but I have just labored comfortably in the bedroom of my apartment to wring a handful of rhyming job descriptions from my morning-fuzzy brain. It was fun work, done for the pleasure of playing with words and sending a subtle love letter to workers of all stripes into the world, including you, whatever you do, for our most important labor is the vital job of making ourselves into better people.