Forgotten heroes

Back in 1931
The depression
How could it be fun
When rockerfeller
Decided he
Would build
Skyscrapers
And would see

Workers back a climbing high
Earning some wages
In the sky

Infact they came from everywhere
To do their art work
In the air

Scaffolding and building
High
800 feet and thats no lie

Columns pillars turrets towers
Perching hanging climbing powers
One slip and that would be it
No ropes no nets no place to sit

Beams and girders piles and stakes
Balks and joists none of them fakes
All of them heroes to the cause
Get on with it no time to pause

Ladder scaling gradients steep
Rising pitches ratlines deep
So much danger every day
And in the wind it all could sway

Just normal guys
Who liked to be
Up in the sky alone to see

All the components erected and
Far below could understand

Really defying gravity
Cement and concrete and residue
And bricks and tiles and glass
All through

Stonework woodwork and risks galore
Up there a man had to be sure

The howling winds the fading light
The suns strong heat a frosty night

Aching limbs and the ground below
One slip and they all did know

Confidence no second thoughts
The comradeship and all those sorts

Of emotions really that strengthen those
Whose courage really I suppose

Was taken for granted in the end
Everybody was your friend

They looked out for each other
As best they could
They had a job and it was good

They developed a lot of self esteem
Most were modest so it would seem

Skyscrapers loomed into the sky
Built on blood and guts and high

Higher than they had gone before
They were knocking on heavens door

Up in the clouds on the gantry they
Sat their having their luch each day

These were the men who were put to task
They would do it if you did ask

The scaffold workers who climbed real high
And worked their magic in the sky