{"id":2491,"date":"2021-06-15T01:40:27","date_gmt":"2021-06-15T05:40:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=2491"},"modified":"2021-06-15T02:31:57","modified_gmt":"2021-06-15T06:31:57","slug":"labor-town-hospital-poem-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=2491","title":{"rendered":"Labor Town (Hospital poem 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>Oh, the work force\u00a0down in Labor Town<\/div>\n<div>went off to seek their fortune.<\/div>\n<div>In mills and stills and mining hills,<\/div>\n<div>the summer sun was scorchin.&#8217;<\/div>\n<div>When hope ran dry, they turned their eye<\/div>\n<div>back toward the place they&#8217;d left.<\/div>\n<div>But the streets were dead and the lakes were dry,<\/div>\n<div>the whole scene was bereft.<\/div>\n<div>Labor Town had seen its day,<\/div>\n<div>money piling up like hay.<\/div>\n<div>Now the crop had gone away,<\/div>\n<div>the buildings fit for arson.<\/div>\n<div>Two men roamed the dusty street,<\/div>\n<div>forlorn, hungry, in defeat.<\/div>\n<div>Beneath a tree, they had a seat,<\/div>\n<div>beggar man and parson.<\/div>\n<div>When one leaves his place of birth,<\/div>\n<div>pledged to roam the challenged earth,<\/div>\n<div>there is one key step to take:<\/div>\n<div>make sure it is no mistake.<\/div>\n<div>Some roads lead to castle, palace,<\/div>\n<div>others bordered, oft, by malice,<\/div>\n<div>run downhill to fiery ends,<\/div>\n<div>empty of both love and friends.<\/div>\n<div>Labor Town once prompted toasts.<\/div>\n<div>Now it&#8217; home to angry ghosts.<\/div>\n<div>Those who jettison their past<\/div>\n<div>find a future that won&#8217;t last.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oh, the work force\u00a0down in Labor Town went off to seek their fortune. In mills and stills and mining hills, the summer sun was scorchin.&#8217; When hope ran dry, they turned their eye back toward &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=2491\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poem-2"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2009,"url":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=2009","url_meta":{"origin":2491,"position":0},"title":"Place Markers","author":"Rick Young","date":"September 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"On Labor Day we celebrate how our great country works. The rich pay us to kill ourselves and then treat\u00a0us like jerks. We celebrate the forty hour week, plus overtime. They work\u00a0us hard and bleed us dry. Their money is a crime. They live in mansions inside gates and take\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Poem&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Poem","link":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?cat=16"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":258,"url":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=258","url_meta":{"origin":2491,"position":1},"title":"Ghost Shelf Life","author":"Rick Young","date":"December 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Produce breathes life into labor. Decayed cauliflower wins no hearts. Take that price tag off my skin. I live only in consumer memory. Inventory cannot define me. Customer satisfaction disgusts me. I am a shadow, bought and sold, an old bargain looking for a sucker. My s.k.u. is like a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Poem&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Poem","link":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?cat=16"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/redtinnoodles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Ghost.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/redtinnoodles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Ghost.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/redtinnoodles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Ghost.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/redtinnoodles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Ghost.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":62,"url":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=62","url_meta":{"origin":2491,"position":2},"title":"Meteor Town","author":"Rick Young","date":"November 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Showering stars are descending. Each crater creates a new park. It\u2019s Meteor Town never ending. A literal scream after dark. O where are you now, Stephen Hawking? The bodies are outlined in chalking. Who\u2019d guess that a rock Big as this one could fly? The townsfolk look up And get\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Poetry&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Poetry","link":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"Godzilla","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/redtinnoodles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Godzilla.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/redtinnoodles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Godzilla.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/redtinnoodles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Godzilla.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/redtinnoodles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Godzilla.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/redtinnoodles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Godzilla.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":549,"url":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=549","url_meta":{"origin":2491,"position":3},"title":"Party Down","author":"Rick Young","date":"January 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Where to are you bound if not in the ground? The sky is the limit, they say. You fly to a peak and stay for a week, then rise into heaven one day. The dirt in the hole will replace the soul, the quiet still sticky with prayer. The insects\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Poem&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Poem","link":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?cat=16"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":684,"url":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=684","url_meta":{"origin":2491,"position":4},"title":"Comstock Yodel Parade","author":"Rick Young","date":"February 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"There is no proper substitute for a good yodel parade. Mountain men and cowboys come from every glen and glade. They flock into the town of choice to try to win some prizes, with their yodel-a-hee voice in bodies of all sizes. You'll get some folks from Switzerland and several\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Poem&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Poem","link":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?cat=16"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1032,"url":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?p=1032","url_meta":{"origin":2491,"position":5},"title":"Dry Mouth","author":"Rick Young","date":"December 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Checking their watches by the radium glow, three dogs salivate same time each night. Pavlov rings them up with news. Pound is down. Old bones in Sahara found. Ears perk. Tails wag. Notes are taken, lab coats washed and dried. \"We tried,\" say the working hounds, knowing humans respond well\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Poem&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Poem","link":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/?cat=16"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2491"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2494,"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2491\/revisions\/2494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redtinnoodles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}