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Friday, March 30, 2012

Downsized at 50+ Temp Jobs - No. 2 1987


                                                          The Bindery

On The Line

I am enthralled at first
In awe of this great space
The clatter of dark green machinery
Metropolis of movement
Long conveyor belts with snake-like curves
Rattle like dominoes.
The whine of forklifts
Clattering of printing presses
Night-shift workers
Moving at top speed.

At three of fourteen stations
I load pages into hoppers that are quickly emptied
Needing more . . . insatiable
A warning buzzer sounds
Go faster . . . faster!
Sweating on this concrete floor
Under a grid of bare fluorescent lights
No mercy
Eight hours of running back and forth
Between the pallet loads of printed pages
And the ever-hungry hoppers.

On my way back home
At dawn
Ears ringing.

Published: Blue Collar Review  2011

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