My great grandfather
every day of his life
walked up the stairs
to his seventh floor apartment
without a word of complaint.

It was a while back
when men were men
and elevators hadn’t been invented yet
or at least
were not provided
in his building.

He didn’t seem to mind
for as I said
men were men
and brave and strong
and did things that ten of today’s men
could barely imagine.

He worked a full hard day
in the mines
and then in the yours
and came home
to climb the stairs
simply to get home
have dinner
and go to bed.

He worked seven days a week
and did this every day of his life
until he died of a heart attack
at twenty three.
He was a sperm donor.