broad-back city

Broad-Backed City

City with grit under its fingernails,

you stand there like someone who knows

the job will outlast the daylight.

You laugh with your whole chest,

not because the world is kind,

but because the joke lands better

when you’re still upright.

I’ve walked your blocks at first light,

steam lifting from grates like a cook’s breath

before the shift begins.

I’ve heard the freight yards mutter

their iron vowels,

each wagon a stubborn syllable

in a language built by hands

that never asked permission.

You carry your bruises openly.

You don’t tidy them.

You don’t pretend they arrived by chance.

You wear them the way a tradesman

keeps old scars:

as proof that the work was real

and the pay rarely matched the effort.

And still-

in the middle of all that racket,

someone is sweeping a stoop,

someone is lifting a crate,

someone is calling to a neighbour

as though the day might yet

turn generous.

City of broad shoulders, yes-

but also broad backs,

broad hopes,

broad jokes told too loudly

in corner diners where the coffee

is always a little burnt

and always good enough.

I won’t flatter you.

You don’t need it.

You’ve built your own praise

out of brick dust

and stubborn moorings.

You stand there,

unapologetic,

alive in the way a place is alive

when people keep showing up

even when they’re tired.

And I stand with you,

not to bless,

not to scold,

but simply to say:

I see the work you carry,

and I’m here for the next shift.

.

Reviews

[Jimmy Crapped Corn]

This is awesome. It flows smoothly with out rhyme which is not a talent I possess.

[redd Brick Keshner]

Thanks, Jimmy. That means a lot as the natural bent is to rhyme, in thought and in composition. Much appreciated. 🙏🕊️

[Michael Sun Bear]

What a wonderful read, what a great poem! There are some great lines, I will just highlight one: “I’ve heard the freight yards mutter their iron vowels.” I’m saving this one.

[redd Brick Keshner]

Nice save there, Michael! Thanks for another year of poeting together 🕊️🙏🏻