For the Work

Not for applause, nor fleeting fame,
Not for the echo of a household name,
But for the craft, the steady hand,
The love of labor, simple and grand.

No thought of riches, no thought of gain,
Just shaping beauty from joy and pain.
Each stroke, each step, a silent song,
A truth that endures, both steady and strong.

For in the end, when stories fade,
It’s not the trophies that we have made,
But the work itself—pure, complete
That makes a life, that makes it sweet.

So may our legacy hum like art,
Born of the soul, poured from the heart.
For the work alone, that sacred mark,
Outshines the glory, outshines the dark.

Mark C. Waldrop 

Inspired by Robert Redford’s words