2019 Contest

Making Work Visible

City University of New York / Labor Arts

Isley Jean Pierre

Poetry Second Place

Isley Jean Pierre

Brooklyn College

The Immortals

The Immortals

Occupation: Transportation — Air, Rail, Auto, Shipping, Al Ravena, 1948

In the hollow chambers of the heart
No light dares to provide an ounce of warmth
Cold skin breaks into multitudes of shards
Merging with desires lost in the vastness of time
Battered faces with inclemented roots of sadness
Harboring macabre souls fasting on dreams they can harness
How spiteful the merry sight of bloody clouds
Hanging above heads drowning in meads… thunder cursing loud
The cries of Seagulls engulfed by the roar of monstrous waves
From the shores, but fall silent… as silent as the grave
The breeze gives way to harsh memories scattered in the mist
While the stars mock the earth in the shape of a fist
The path to the dark mountain, uncharted, lies ahead
Only grants safe passage to the wise and the dead
Here comes the immortals, walking side by side…
Engaging on a perilous journey tainted with fear and pride
Day after day, they carry their tools to the forbidden forest
To harvest the woods of life to keep their kin warm from the tempest
Day after day, they sail on sinking boats crudely repaired
To tame the violent seas with haunted faces carved in despair
Day after day, under the stubborn and unending rain
Nothing precludes them from boarding the decrepit train
Here comes the immortals, walking side by side…
Their faces, bearing the weight of feeble yet lingering smiles
Radiate at the innocence and undying love for their children

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