Maddox Table

The legs of Maddox kitchen tables
My whole life twisted on a lathe
In a foreman's torrent
My first English was
"Faster boy if you want your pay"
Barking commands
Loud and simple
We could all obeyThen I was forever pulling silvers
Rubbed the sawdust always
Deeper in my eye
Varnish vapor that could linger
On my skin
It held tight
The whine of spinning blades
Still echoes to bother my sleep at nightSee that ox
Stamped dead center
On the letter head of the company mail
Four decades a spitting image
Of the animal I portrayed
At Maddox Table a yoke was carved
For my neckSun through the window oil spattered
And in mason jars
Tricked plenty seeds thrive
The standing joke
Around the shop was
With my green thumb
Anything'd grow
My part was to laugh
Show and ornery jig had
Cut it at the knuckle boneSee that ox
Trade mark burned
Into every stick of furniture
From horn to tail
Four decades a spitting image
Of the animal I portrayed
At Maddox Table a yoke was carved
For my neckWas tailor madeO my Dolly was a weak
Not a burdened girl
Treat her to a piece of vaudville
A Wintergarden moving picture show
Bemus Point on July Sundays
By trolley we'd goTo your benefit we's strike or bargain
With the waving fist a union man
Not just for
Smokes spirits candy and cologne
But for
Automobile keys
Cash in the bank
And the deed
On a place called home