J.C. Elkin Verse-Virtual 2015 September

September 2015

I am an optimist, linguist, singer and kayaker living on the Chesapeake Bay. I am the founder of the Broadneck Writers’ Workshop in Annapolis, Maryland (www.broadneckwritersworkshop.com), I am also the author of World Class: Poems Inspired by the ESL Classroom and other works which have appeared in such journals as Kansas City Voices, Kestrel, and Ducts.

Editor's Note: I asked Jane for a poem about my informal theme for September — "labor" (because of Labor Day). I rec'd this fine poem in response. This is what Jane wrote as a preface to the poem:

"The only poem I have that might be relevant to September's theme is this one I wrote commemorating the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard where my father worked for 35 years. It is written from the vantage point of a child watching the workers exit the gates at quitting time, and it was published in Piscataqua Poems (Piscataqua Press, RiverRun Bookstore, 2013)."

When the Whistle Blew

Portsmouth Navy Yard
frigid island blight
cloaked in brick and grey
castle crowned, surreal
South End panorama

Roost of screeching gulls
nest of scurvy rats
petri dish of roaches
livelihood to over
half the folks I knew

Swarms repaired the subs
clattering down hatches
echoey and dim
all the day and night
save when I was there

Waiting for the whistle
everything was still
seven lazy minutes
watching for my Dad
the tall man to appear

Special treat on days he
didn’t walk to work in
insulated pants I
called his puddle pants,
miles across a bridge whose
girders are
no more

Early Yard birds fled
first in twos and threes
hustling past guards
collars up, heads down
streams of weary men

Khakis, work boots, caps
thermoses and sacks
weathered crinkly eyes
softening to be free
jostling through the gate to

Laborers’ rewards:
sweethearts, supper, beer,
toddlers’ sloppy kisses,
Cronkite, slippers, bed.

Who could ask for more?