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 Philadelphia Federation of Teachers Facebook timeline photo from the 8/22/2013 rally for funding |
Watching teachers gather,
I note my worried forehead
and red tee matches theirs
Observing from the other side
of the employed-and-not divide,
I allow my heart to join them
Working on the national holiday,
red hearts move through concrete
streets and buildings tremble
But not the hearts of policy
makers, not those of wealth
who turn labor into a circus
Three rings fill up: one with
hearts, one with dollar signs
and one with rests between
To endure the show, they divest
of hope that new generations
will have a zest for democracy
I imagine people at rest trying
to recall free public education
and representative government
Public land and clean water
trash pick-ups and scholarship
uses for three-plus-syllable words.
Watching teachers gather
I check my cynical loss of hope
and allow my heart to join in.
Posted for Poetry Pantry #165 at Poets United and at Open Link Monday at the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads. When President Grover Cleveland established Labor Day in 1887, he was giving labor organizations an alternative to May Day and shifting focus from the horrific Haymarket Riot.
i wonder at times in my loss of hope...i feel it at times...when i feel the cuts to education and wonder where our money goes and...
ReplyDeleteAn interesting Labor Day perspective. Our students don't start school until the day after Labor Day. You have given a lot to think about, Susan.
ReplyDeleteWe celebrate Labour Day here in Canada, as well, this Monday and the whole spirit behind the idea has been lost. I loved this poem and I especially loved the ending and the hope tucked inside every line. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteSusan, such a timely post. Yesterday I watched a documentary American Teacher which describes how under paid dedicated teachers are, many of whom have to work a second job to survive, when teaching is one of the most vitally important professions there is. It is unfathomable, like so many other things in this cock-eyed world.
ReplyDeleteWe have come a long way down, the last 50 years.
Ditto Sherry. Susan, I allow my heart to join in.
ReplyDeleteEducation is in a sorry state in many parts of the world. Just today our Grade 12 Preparatory Exams have been hijacked by one of the teacher unions who has announced a boycott.. It is so frustrating.
ReplyDeleteexcellent, Susan. thank you.
ReplyDeleteVery well penned depiction of such a tragic debacle. Why our educators are no longer valued is beyond my comprehension. Very astute conveyance here of the degradation of the educational system in America. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHow so many forget if not for teachers would they be living the life they live today.
ReplyDeleteSusan, a great tribute to labor and teachers. Teachers here in Texas are so bound with government red tape it cuts into their teaching. So much of our money here has gone into football stadiums...everything gets cut so much it seems except football..it is ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteLooking back, I appreciate my teachers, every one. Even the sewing teacher who hated me because I couldn't sew, and she thought I wouldn't sew. Even the math teachers who despaired of me ever getting out of high school (I did, with 51% in math). Most of all I appreciated then, and appreciate now, the teachers who cared, who recognized my talents lay in one direction and who helped me nurture that spark.
ReplyDeleteVery well done, Susan. I hope Labor Day doesn't go the way of all good things.
Luv, K