two years in the teamsters
and i never got my steel toes
metal fingers and splint of shin
were all i got for my dues

riding the side of the backhoe
with the dynamite crew
it was all i could do
to stay awake
long enough
for you

going home dirt encrusted
and the union rep never trusted
you laughed at me for getting busted
when i was seventeen

export a's under my hard hat
leaned my shoulder on shovel
mowing grass at the town hall

and then you'd come and see me
and we'd go fuck in the forest
out the backyard
with the animals around

at six oclock i'm hungover
standing knee deep in the spreader
calcium burns in my membranes
and it's time
to pay my dues
again