Ticket In The Pipe (The Morning 6)

ticket in the pipe
transfer from the driver
nod of sleep under my hat,
blasted sun bustin' this mornin'
pour into the cracked familiar
daybreak blue rack blue
the coveralls at the back
handcuts tough with life,
brown prairie brows a-sweatin'
twenty-five an hour with
two fifteens and a lunch
two little ones at home
straying wife with nice pots
"Keep it up, Jimmy, up" from me
a tug from the bus belly
ankle-to-flume sunrises from
busgirl guitars and small-blocks
grazzled and nuddle sweet
8:00am first cigarette in the mail
face in the lighter chrome
twenty years of this
and twenty more to go
wise men say "know the question."
barstool philos don't cut it
the question, then:
how long do I have?