Smell of man labored by the day, scented <br />Sweated wet and hunkish peers out <br />From deep sunk eyes marked at edge <br />With kindness lines broken at the rim <br />Where hurt has squeezed and teased <br />But never broken the manly touch of earth <br />Trodden hard by feet and settled <br />In the fingernails and cracks of skin <br />That make a hand a workman’s hand <br />Shaper of a world beyond despair <br /> <br />Ah yes, that smell that preens the self <br />With sense of purpose accomplished skill <br />Yet minded memory eludes the fast of lesser <br />Skill and comfort days burnt and bridled. <br />No matter what oppressors rod and scorch <br />Of mistrust’s reddened iron, resolve remains <br />And courage bent but never broken <br />Sees through the darkness what eludes <br />Peer of lesser eyes, and hardened heart <br /> <br />Energized by search for truth, what can it be <br />And where to find its germ of freedom sprout <br />Those labored hands will strike again <br />To break earth open until darkness spews the light <br />Never once did freedom come easy or love march <br />In straight and narrow gait. Rather like flames <br />Fire seen not caught or captured by single hand <br />It reaches to consume and cleanse <br />Purify a putrid form and melt the gold of life <br />Then fashion it to make the work complete <br /> <br />A rugged man that smells of earth can know <br />To sow that seed and work its germination <br />Pain mingles with hope made strong in each stroke <br />In every hour of labor hard and course <br />Man’s labor, God’s delight; God’s labor <br />Man’s unfrighted stare into creation’s day <br />Promise, curse, the molded clay <br />That earns the bread with breath as gift <br />And stubborn heart forgiven.<br /><br />Midifo Yearns<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/soiled-hands/
