Ray McMahon got cut in half
By inch thick braided steel
Used to pull boxcars up the track
The cable frayed and snapped
The longer length sliced Ray
in no time flat although he
didn’t die right away but
he couldn’t speak and
neither could we.
A black guy in furnace C was
Crushed by a thick steel plate
Dropped by a crane operator drunk
The plate fell lazily soundlessly
Through hazy steel plant space
And the black guy never knew
What was coming or what killed him
The church was made of sandstone
with a red tile Italian roof and
the cornerstone date was 1926
saying For God and Country and we
hear the central message every Sunday
there is a great plan and
we all have our place in it and
we are not alone.