Today is celebrated around our ailing planet,
Int’l Workers Day. Times sure have changed,
With machinery replacing much of human capacity.
This creates more revenue, while making the
Working man expendable. It keeps some subdued,
And timorous of losing their income.
Now, don’t confuse this as any worker’s day...
It’s not for the soft-assed, who view each client
As a meal pass, while they mess around on the
Computer all day. This is the day to venerate the
Workers who toil in back-breaking labor. Who’ve
Built our infrastructures, and those who put their life
On the line when the fire siren sings. It is for
The men and women – and sometimes children…
Who may have given up on their dreams,
So that their families don’t go without much.
The check may not stretch a lot, with the
Incremented taxes, on top of ballooned inflation.
Perhaps they need the succor of the Payday Loan
Scam, or of the Food Stamp. It’s for the women who
Lovingly tend your children, while neglecting their own.
It’s for the worker who works in a sauna, to expedite
Your lunch. It’s for those who despise their jobs,
Yet show up, day after day, after day…just because…
They have to. Governments should give a bonus to
These unsung heroes on this day. A bonus and a free day.
So they can take it to pay off that Payday loan, or null
the senses with a drink or joint. To lose their cares in a
mediocre movie, and to recapture some thread of humanity,
Or self worth. This day, not to soley live to work which erodes
The spirit and makes one and automaton. It is quite hard on
The psyche to look at the clock and wish it would speed up.
Even if every tick tock, brings one ever closer to death.
To do harsh labor, regardless of back pain or personal aches.
Or with harsh chemicals which are nefarious to their health.
Did you ever stop to think about these people as heroes?
They truly are. I once asked a dishwasher how he came
To be there. It was not his reminiscing of traveling
Inside an 18 wheel container without proper ventilation
Along with three hundred other people, which made
My eyes open up like saucers. He said that after three
Days of hardly eating, and drinking muddled water…
Some of the group didn’t make it when crossing the
Cruel desert. Near the end, as the street lights were
Barely discernable, an older woman, a bit chunky he
Claims, refused to go on. He is of medium height and
Slight, yet he picked up over his shoulder, a woman
Who'd given up on life. When his strength was exhausted…
And he couldn't see from the strain, and his friends urged
Him to drop her – this young man would not give up yet!
He dragged her by pulling her arm, and unceremoniously,
They finally arrived. So, how about it? Give a stimulus
Package so there is something to look forward to. And while
You’re at it, why not legalize some workers, and marijuana too?
Mural by Diego Rivera 1933 "Detroit Industry" or "Hombre y Maquina"
