Page 7
By Jack Joseph Smith
Had worn thin the nerves of the men
From Cidney to Manzanillo, Mexico
Death drove the smell the whole go
That's how I got on at the
Manzanillo dock
The ships doctor, and six seamen
had got off in a state of shock
I remember the 18,000 were
coming down the planks
to the brutal pens
With the stench of the ship
Steaming inches of their hides
from flocks of other remains left behind
while I joined the stockmen
insane
From what must have been
some sort of blame
hidden in my humanity
Now we stood on the dung
Hero's very much unsung
experiencing the pity in Tragedy
With that last sheep
(Below our helpless hands)
Which I will call Mam
The head stockman
Was a man frightened by power
which is why he had been picked
to report on bare hours
of Hellish resemblance