SONG OF THE PIPELINE

Working on the pipeline

Having such a great time

All work and no play

Never know the time of day.

Toiling seven days a week

Never finding time to sleep

Work in mud up to our necks

Have no time to cash our checks.

Sleep in beds that aren’t our own

We’re so far away from home

Hungry, cold, hot, and wet

How much harder can it get?

Back at home, our lovers wait

Separated from their mates

Wonder how it would feel

To have a real home-cooked meal.

Feet are sore, muscles ache

Please God, when’s our break?

Dirt and dust and insect bites

What’s that sound?...it’s dynamite!

Welder’s torches shooting flames

Connecting pipes with perfect aim

Backhoes move the earth around

Digging trenches in the ground.

Laborer’s shovels lifting dirt

How much more can this body hurt

My fellow workers help me through

What we wouldn’t do for one cold brew.

Pride and strength and pain and time

Goes into the making of a pipeline.