Without Any Shame

WITHOUT ANY SHAME They walked in past the time clock that they didn't have to punch. There would be no more work for them, no whistle blowing for lunch. No getting up in the morning, and knowing where they'll be. Now forced to face a life, of total uncertainty. Of how to keep their car and pay for their house. Or how to put food, in their hungry children's mouths. About how to find a job when they're, way past their prime, when even young and able are, being turned down all the time. About how to pay the doctor for a baby almost due, and how to get the money for the other children's shoes. They brought their sleeping bags and their meager rations of food, and they chanted day and night to get them what was due! Others joined in, and the news spread round the globe That they were standing their ground and they would not be going home. For six long days They never gave up the fight To get what was theirs, to fight for what is right. And then finally, upon the sixth day, when the great big bank, was shamed into paying them, There was jubilance, and restitution and because of them, a peaceful solution. But, there's always two sides, to every story. One filled with pain, the other filled with glory. As he sits behind the desk, smoking cuban cigars, his big jet is waiting, and his fleet of six cars. He takes pride in knowing make no doubt about it, he saves the company money, however he sees fit. By paying close attention, to the bottom line. He justifies his bonus, and it's really huge this time! He has enough money, for all his gaudy excess. While the rest will be wondering, Just how they'll pay their rent. But who really is the winner, in this futile game? It's the one who meets their maker without any shame. Wordplaya, December, 2008 This poem is Dedicated to the brave men and women whowere theemployees of Republic Windows and Doors in Chicago, Illinois. Theydefended their rights and never gave up in the face of adversity, and did sowithout any shame. They participated in a sit in that lasted six long days and they did not go home until they got their last paychecks from the bank which foreclosed on the business where most had worked all their lives. "The present US government is like a can of spam, if you're hungry enough, you'll eat it !" Wordplaya 2008 "Isn't it something, that when you have nothing, you appreciate everything?" Wordplaya 2008