tar road

the smudge of sun.
the flint of
a broken smile,
the shoulders hunched,
the weight
of arms
and legs
lead pipes swinging
to a distant
drum.
the road of tar
must be laid.
names stenciled
against the orange backs,
the shovels turning
over and over
the turn of steel blades,
the heat rising,
shimmering, nervous
in an unkind world
without shade.