he worked the hot furnace

feeding it black meat

extracting molars decayed

with a poker dental tool

he worked the hot furnace

that saturday morning

the young son he took with him

to show what he did

for a living that's why

. . .

the boy stood in awe

of the glistening arms

that held steam hatted vessels

of one sort or another

so this was the place

he went every morning

returning at night

argumentative and mean

this place would kill him

he always said

and it did

. . .

now years later

the boy man returned

to the memory

of that saturday morning

then moved on down the road

to a furnace of his own

    home