Grime encased iron – sweating black sticky oil
Cogs, bearings grate interlock and recoil,
Huge machine cast of iron wrought
Pulleys burden and steel cable clang taut.
Metal valves snap, as fuels blasts in
Thunderous sound of the mechanical din!
Pistons rise on a gleaming crank
Combustion explosion, as the con rod sank;
Then compression, ignition, expel the gases
Creating power – for the expectant masses.
Valves on pipes, pumping through tubes
Dirt, grease, oil – all dripping hot lubes.
Forgo the sight of nature’s scenery
Only the sound of deafening machinery!
Toxic gasses and the pungent stench
Rough course hands, grip a torque wrench.
To adjust a value a tad – for a quick fix
Fluids gurgle wild and spit boiling in the mix.
Even the air con – spews out rancid smells
Drowns out the sound of the engineer’s yells!
Compressed air slams a die caste punch
Diesel spits vicious, as the spinning bearings crunch,
Human error and the machine is unkind
The steel cogs interlock, they chew and grind!
Scorching water drips from hoses and pumps
Runs off grease, on surfaces in clumps
Iron filings muck pile – over slag time
Filth encrusted lubricants with dirt and grime,
Gears interlock for torque is now conveyed
Muscle delivered throbbing to the steel turbine blade.
Valves hiss, heave shudder and crash
While piston drive, does throb and smash!
Running at red hot, too much to bear
Ghastly taste of oil as gases choke the air.
No one is spared the furnace and the fettle
For this is the underworld of metal on metal.
