the legs of Maddox kitchen tables
my whole life twisted on a lathe
in a foreman's torrent

my first English was
"faster boy if you want your pay"
barking commands

loud and simple
we could all obey


then I was forever pulling silvers
rubbed the sawdust always
deeper in my eye

varnish vapor that could linger
on my skin
it held tight

the whine of spinning blades
still echoes to bother my sleep at night


see that ox
stamped dead center
on the letter head of the company mail

four decades a spitting image
of the animal I portrayed
at Maddox Table a yoke was carved

for my neck

sun through the window oil spattered

and in mason jars
tricked plenty seeds thrive
the standing joke

around the shop was
with my green thumb
anything'd grow

my part was to laugh
show and ornery jig had
cut it at the knuckle bone


see that ox
trade mark burned

into every stick of furniture
from horn to tail
four decades a spitting image

of the animal I portrayed
at Maddox Table a yoke was carved
for my neck


was tailor made


o my Dolly was a weak
not a burdened girl
treat her to a piece of vaudville

a Wintergarden moving picture show
Bemus Point on July Sundays
by trolley we'd go


to your benefit we's strike or bargain
with the waving fist a union man

not just for
smokes spirits candy and cologne
but for

automobile keys
cash in the bank
and the deed

on a place called home