from a youth
where muscle had abounded
and they had drank heartily
to the claims
of scandalous deeds
once bedroom bold
swarthy
men who drove iron pegs
men who worked the docks
men who herded cattle
out on the frontier
now sullen
pigeon-hearted
down to a single hair
thin men, fat men
all beaten inward
forced to absorb it all
consigned to the benches
of the world
stoic however
like an orchestra enduring a light rain
mercifully trying to keep to the bar
as the mist
sweeps through the arches