J.D. Smith


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Song of Labor

A muscled few can score the goals
And dare to argue with the ref.
Far more tend grounds and stow the balls—
Shift work without the “f.”

While one cook catches fire and gets
A three-star gig as TV chef,
A thousand wash out their own pots—
Shift work without the “f.”

Stars see the Mansion as their own
And revel in the life of Hef
As unknowns mop the Grotto down—
Shift work without the “f.”

Thus Kit Smart could by fervent word
Enshrine a cat, for short called Geoff.
A litter box awaits this bard—
Shift work without the “f”!

J.D. Smith‘s third poetry collection, Labor Day at Venice Beach, was published in 2012, and in 2007 he was awarded a Fellowship in Poetry from the National Endowment for the Arts. His other books include the humor collection Notes of a Tourist on Planet Earth (2013), the essay collection Dowsing and Science (2011), and the children’s picture book The Best Mariachi in the World. His individual poems have appeared in previous issues of Light, as well as in The Able Muse, The Bark, The Formalist, and Measure.