A crew of men is digging a trench for new gas mains. Their shovels bite into yellow clay, they wipe sweat with red bandanas, and occasionally they stop to yank their boots out of the sucking mud. Around them, twenty other men just stand and watch. The speaker keeps the focus tight and almost documentary: we see the physical labor up close, then the spectators’ reactions. Half of the watchers mutter that the job is brutal—“a hell of a job.” The other half say they wish they had it. That split is the point. The work is harsh and filthy, yet it is still work, and the men watching seem to be out of it. The mood is gritty and quiet, with an undercurrent of desperation. The red bandanas and yellow clay give it a vivid, working-class realism, but the onlookers’ two reactions leave a bitter, ironic aftertaste.
Muckers — Summary
Twenty men stand watching the muckers. Stabbing the sides of the ditch Where clay gleams yellow, Driving the blades of their shovels Deeper and deeper for the new gas mains, Wiping sweat off their faces With red bandanas. The muckers work on . . pausing . . to pull Their boots out of suckholes where they slosh.
Of the twenty looking on Ten murmur, "O, it's a hell of a job," Ten others, "Jesus, I wish I had the job."