Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE WOMEN TOILERS by GRACE BOWEN EVANS

First Line: I SAW THEM FROM OUR CAR TODAY
Last Line: AS I WAS PASSING BY THEIR FIELDS TODAY!
Subject(s): LABOR & LABORERS; WOMEN - EMPLOYMENT; WORK; WORKERS; PROFESSIONAL WOMEN; WOMEN IN BUSINESS; WOMEN'S CAREERS;
I saw them from our car today,
As I was passing by—
The women toilers!
Mexican, Negro, white,
Working in the cotton fields
From dawn of day till night.
I wonder what the recompense
Of toil like theirs—
Fulfillment, joy, sweet peace?
Or just the dull despair
Of aching weariness,
That never knows surcease?

I wonder, oh, I wonder how
In God's great plan,
I shall make restitution for
The joy, the ease, the time
Spent in such idle ways,
When these must wilt
Out in the hot sun's blaze.
At night I see them
When I try to pray;
God help them to be kind
When they shall think of me,
Beloved, rested, gay—
As I was passing by their fields today!



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