Brown
Leafless, grey, gnarled,
they hibernate in the clays
of the brown crag.
Their red, yellow,
orange gildings,
two months gone,
have blown downward.
Blending in the black,
snowless winter,
the leaves are now brown
as the crags.
Books say brown
is the most unpopular color.
But, today, I’m not greedy.
Amidst a fleeting, tenuous
escape from conflict,
seeking
only
a
few
days
of
peace,
This brown highway’s good enough.
Len Shindel began working at Bethlehem Steel’s Sparrows Point Plant in 1973, where he was a union activist and elected representative in local unions of the United Steelworkers, frequently publishing newsletters about issues confronting his co-workers. His nonfiction and poetry have been published in the “Other Voices” section of the Baltimore Evening Sun, The Pearl, The Mill Hunk Herald, Pig Iron, Labor Notes and other publications. After leaving Sparrows Point in 2002, Shindel, a father of three and grandfather of seven, began working as a communication specialist for an international union based in Washington, D.C. The International Labor Communications Association frequently rewarded his writing. He retired in 2016. Today he enjoys writing, cross-country skiing, kayaking, hiking, fly-fishing, and fighting for a more peaceful, sustainable and safe world for his grandchildren and their generation. Shindel is currently working on a book about the Garrett County Roads Workers Strike of 1970 www.garrettroadstrike.com.