Cornhuskers/Near Keokuk
NEAR KEOKUK
Thirty-two Greeks are dipping their feet in a creek.
Sloshing their bare feet in a cool flow of clear water.
All one midsummer day ten hours the Greeks
- stand in leather shoes shoveling gravel.
Now they hold their toes and ankles
- to the drift of running water.
Then they go to the bunk cars
- and eat mulligan and prune sauce.
Smoke one or two pipefuls, look at the stars,
- tell smutty stories
About men and women they have known,
- countries they have seen,
Railroads they have built—
- and then the deep sleep of children.