John Henry was a steel driving man
New Jersey 3rd corps, Army of Potomac, camp servant
10 years for "stealing" from Wiseman's grocery
City Point Virginia
prisoner #497 on the chain gang
drove steel in the Lewis tunnel
beat that steam drill down
but the steam drill got revenge
kicking up silica dust
killed a hundred convict laborers
bodies shipped back to White House, Richmond
for the $100 deposit, buried in the sand
the ribbon of steel,
that binds a nation,
rides on the toil of men,
remembered only in a song.
No comments:
Post a Comment