Stitching a seam. Sweeping a floor. Coming into first light after working the midnight shift in a factory. These are small moments in everyday jobs, but such moments can glint with a light that is anything but ordinary. The poems in LIVING WAGES seek that light. In his ninth book, Michael Chitwood describes physically hard, sometimes dangerous labor, but also of quiet housekeeping chores and office routines. We call this "making a living," the day-to-day way that we get through our lives and pay for the roof over our heads. Whether going to the cellar for a jar of pickles or drilling a...
Stitching a seam. Sweeping a floor. Coming into first light after working the midnight shift in a factory. These are small moments in everyday jobs, b...