The Diggers

Drawing by Francisco de Goya


the diggers


The three men are digging
It could be a trench
It could be a grave
It could be a groove
to place sewage pipes
under a house

All the diggers wear white gloves
In their back pockets
hope plugged with cork

One is measuring
for the digging must descend
to an agreed upon level
It is part of the game
It was the rules
invented for the occasion

There should be no unevenness
if uneven
the unevenness will be overlooked
for one cannot live without hope

Old joys that have been dead
and buried for years
are found
They are tossed aside


Duane Locke

Posted over on Scars