Bunkhouse
Cookie welcomes us to his mess hall.
A stocky Filipino, he wears an apron over t-shirt.
“Hot muck-a-lucka-sigh!” he laughs.
Coffee and lunch served, rooms assigned,
we climb to upper floor. Rummy and pai gow tables
full with seasoned Alaskeros greet us.
We unpack. Sweep. Carve our beings
into plywood walls.
“Bob loves Linda. 1963”
Alaska Series No. 4
5:30 a.m. King Cove
Mr. Acena, our foreman, wears Vaquero Stetson and Mackinaw.
Traipses hallway. Calls to each room —
“Get up boys! Get up! Time to go!”
Breakfast. Cookie prepares eggs, ham and hot “ mucka-lucka-sigh,”
- colorful coffee word.
Mr. Acena orders, “Young boys, you go slime!
We don rubber suits. Waddle to stations. Three butchers straddle an Iron Chink,
separating salmon heads and tails. Slimers gauntlet tables, gutting the remains.
“Blood money!’ Hard work!”
Alaska Series No. 5
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