Where Are They Now? Poem by Alan Gilbert

Where are they now the brave men
The strong men that built the world,
The gruff and seldom shave men
When industry was first unfurled.
What happened to the real men
The steel men who toiled hard,
The boiler men and riveters
Who built the liners in the yard.

Where did they go those fine men
The mine men from underground,
Those stoic never whine men
Who tunnelled where the coal was found.
Did you know the navvy men
Who laboured long for little pay,
To etch the lines across the map
For rails we travel on today.

They have all gone those old men
And cold men to early graves,
Those cheaply bought and sold men
Who lived as little more than slaves.
Now who is left to mourn them
Adorn them in memory,
Those heroes from the old days
Who fired the world with industry.