For all the time spent in toil
I can’t but help to feel the spoil
Of body and mind and all my resolve
Yet here I stand, unbroken

When day light fades, I feel the shade
Cover my aching frame
I sigh in relief at days end
Yet here I stand, unbroken

Where is rest beyond the plight
Of unending days spent in toil
Of nights lost to pain and fitful sleep
And there I lay, unstirred

Upon cocks crow I rouse unrendered
To face the day, rest left untendered
Yesterday’s trial still within me
Yet here I stand, unbroken

Though I long for quieter days
And nights not spent in angst
The prospect of tomorrow biting my feet
And there I lay, unstirred

The value of what my body endures
Spoils not the value of my toil
It gives value I cannot enumerate
Yet here I stand, unbroken