Hard Hat Hallelujah

Alarm hits at five. I'm crawling out of bed, thermos full of

coffee, strong enough to wake the dead. Roll up to the side,

radios already blasting, electricians testing breaker, sparks fly, that's classic. Plumbers under the

slab, cussing at a clog. Drywall is up on stilts,

looking like a fog. Laborer hauling block back, screaming no more,

but we keep on swinging till the whistle hits four. Porta-potty line longer

than a payday loan. Tape measures disappear, screws vanish when you're alone,

but we got each other's backs when the day goes wrong. That's the hard