This poem is cross-posted at StewartAcuff.com
Working my way back home from another
Trip trying to say we can do this
It doesn't have to be this way, other
Ways are possible. We don't have to miss
What is right and fair, and what is justice.
40 million of us live in poverty
Kids live on school lunch, hungry
Every morning, every night
They blame teachers that the light
In the eyes of hungry, poor kids fades
And it's hard to listen and learn
When your belly sticks to your backbone
And you know you're stuck, you'll never earn
That good life tv says, but can get a loan
That will cost your car. Just burn
The bridges. They took the chances and hope
Leaving no work, 35 years without a raise
Busted unions, every one lost in a daze
Or a maze of broken families and busted lives
Still we push on. The patriots push on above
The shit they want us to wallow in. Love,
Yeah, you can't love America without love
For her people. The patriots push on.
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Stewart Acuff is the former organizing Director of the AFL-CIO. Acuff has also written two books: Playing Bigger Than You Are: A Life in Organizing, and Getting America Back to Work.
Get the e-book edition of Playing Bigger Than You Are by clicking here!