Ill gains (a pantoum)

The digs were grueling yet mind numbing,

the sweltering heat, a catharsis for the body 

Plodding hand plow, dredging up dirt in fold over piles, 

Rote mechanics spilling over splinters upon weeds 

The sweltering heat, a catharsis for the body,

Calloused skin melded into wood, dripping brow, 

Rote mechanics spilling over splinters upon weeds,

Sweat, the tears of labor, watering the soil 

Calloused skin melded into wood, dripping brow,

Parched ground, a forced precedent to the souls thirst, 

Sweat, the tears of labor, watering the soil ,

Building upon days, time the only benefactor of barren pantries, 

Parched ground, a forced precedent to the souls thirst,

Poverty etched in every root and limb,

Building upon days, time the only benefactor of barren pantries, 

With thinning harvests and sinewy wasting, hunger was an indisputable  promise for tomorrow