The Cat Operator

The Cat operator has very strong arms

with braided cords between elbow and wrist

that ache and twitch at night before sleep

and insist he wake before dawn.

He doesn't like wearing the stiff black plastic braces

the therapist gave him last week.

Inside them, the backs of his hands start to painfully swell.

The doctor suggests he think about quitting

or at least get disability leave

and seriously consider another career.

But he likes the way his yellow machine responds

to each twist, prod, pull and push

he has mastered with great satisfaction.

Some nights, he dreams he is the machine,

the bucket his open palms

scooping, lifting, moving and piling.

This powerful feeling makes the pain almost worth it.

Though tying his boots brings tears to his eyes,

and he can't pick up his boy without wincing.

- Vincent Peloso, published in CR Poets and Writers, 2000