An accident occurred
A good man lost his life
A wife lost her husband
A child lost their dad
We never talk about the other lineman
He has to put the accident behind him
Tomorrow he wood walks again
A few days later he stands at a funeral
People talk to him about an accident
He hasn’t processed yet
He hasn’t figured out what happened
He can’t remember
Life calls
Was the mistake due to something I did
Can I do this today
There is a hole inside
The accident is all he sees
The hollow eyes
The sleep that never comes
The explosion in his face
When the ambulance pulled the blanket over the face
A blink of an eye
Fellow troubleman every time he walked up to a house
he carried all his gear
Cancer took him
Seeing a man who got hit in the face
with a tree saw
We went to dinner afterwards
with all those teeth marks on his face
Walked with men
who were scared of the dark
I have seen fear in lineman’s faces
Watched men laugh
Watched lineman wipe tears
Saw a guy go to the heart doctor
and get a clean bill of health
one week later he died of a heart attack
Saw a man come in
after a fellow line hand on his crew died
His eyes were hollow
Watched men retire relieved they made it
Saw men give up the line
and do other things
Sometimes I wonder what I missed other times
I am very aware I don’t want to know
The Other Lineman
The one left behind
Thomas H Palmer II