Standing Still
Factories, once engulfed by workplace smells,
Are now little more than empty shells.
Machinery, which once clanked and clattered,
Stands abandoned, broken and battered.
Cranes, once driven to earn a crust,
Now lay abandoned and full of rust.
People once worked here to pay their bills,
But now the place is standing still.
For trade, this place was an important hub;
It even had its own working men's club.
In its heyday, it saw many deliveries;
Now the silence leaves you shivery.
Along the quayside, big ships docked;
In and out, the dock workers clocked.
It was a hive of activity every day,
Until the workforce were sent away.
Trading ceased and the place closed down;
Now deserted, it is just waste ground.
The buildings are in a state of disrepair:
About them, people now no longer care.
To save their jobs, workers campaigned:
Their fight drove some almost insane.
They struggled to save their livelihoods,
But, in the end, it did them no good.
Many workers felt a real sense of shock,
When, for the last time, gates were locked.
They missed the work and their friends;
Their way of life came to an abrupt end.
poem by Angela Wybrow
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Related quotes
Only Night
Workers
Are working
for factory...
Day with night...
works
Night making day
For with out sleep
Workers...
Day time also
Work...
workers life...
Not for day
Only at
Night for life...
Sun shine day's
24hour's come
And go...
Workers life...
wacke up at night....!
poem by Otteri Selvakumar
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United Front Song
And because a man is human
He'll want to eat, and thanks a lot
But talk can't take the place of meat
or fill an empty pot.
So left, two, three!
So left, two, three!
Comrade, there's a place for you.
Take your stand in the workers united front
For you are a worker too.
And because a man is human
he won't care for a kick in the face.
He doesn't want slaves under him
Or above him a ruling class.
So left, two, three!
So left, two, three!
Comrade, there's a place for you.
Take your stand in the workers united front
For you are a worker too.
And because a worker's a worker
No one else will bring him liberty.
It's nobody's work but the worker' own
To set the worker free.
So left, two, three!
So left, two, three!
Comrade, there's a place for you.
Take your stand in the workers united front
For you are a worker too.
poem by Bertolt Brecht
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I'm for anything that lets people come here to work legally. There are more protections for workers who are here legally than for those who are not. It's also safer for the workers and employers have a more consistent pool of workers.
quote by Larry Craig
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Pack Of Lies
That from hard work and endeavour up the social rank you will rise
To me anyhow does seem a pack of lies
'Tis just an old cliche that and nothing more
That some like to quote and we have heard before.
Even in so called prosperous Countries today
Some of the hardest working people work for survival pay
Many honest and willing workers living in poverty
Life for them seems unfair that's how 'twould seem to me.
Many of who on the theory of hard work believe
Say if you do not work hard from life you cannot receive
Yet many of the billionaires of mining and property development and oil
Have never experienced the hardship of toil.
Just an antiquated cliche it does seem indeed
That those who work hardest in life do succeed
The underpaid workers create many a billionaire
For millions around the World life does seem unfair.
I know of an old bloke who has worked hard in his working life
And he struggled for to pay for the funeral of his wife
Just one more poor hard worker his type are everywhere
There are millions of them in the big World out there.
poem by Francis Duggan
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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One Of Them!
student protesters
close down Wall Street....
peaceful waves lapping
at the shore....
but the storm is coming;
students give way to workers,
workers without food,
without housing or medical care,
workers without hope....
angry workers,
and they damn sure
ought to be...
i know, i'm one of them!
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Workers Of America
Workers of America shout long and loud
As we work together hard and proud
We are the ones that built this great country of ours
From the strain on our backs and our blisters and scars
We were the ones to clear the fields and lay the tracks
We are the ones to build the cities and break our backs
And we are the ones to sweat and bleed and die
As we built this great country, which no one can deny
We work the factories, and the stores and the mills
We dig the ditches and collect the garbage to pay our bills
We are the ones to work in the snow and in the heat of the sun
If it wasn't for us the workers, no work would ever be done
It wasn't the politicians or the judges who built this great land
But it was the workers of America as destiny had planned
Also we are the ones to fight the fires and all the wars
When our elected officials send us away to foreign shores
And we are the ones to feed the deprived and the needy
While the rich man cares for no one, but himself and the greedy
Without us the workers this land or any land would certainly fall
As we are the one that mixes the mortar and builds the wall
We pay the taxes to keep America's heart beating
And we are the ones to keep America always competing
Workers of America look up, as GOD gives us a nod
And listen to the past, as our forefathers do applaud.
Randy L. McClave
poem by Randy McClave
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Thank the Light Workers
Thank the Light Workers that shine their light
Thank the Light Workers who set this realm right.
Earth was almost at a point of total collapse
now we made it through 2012
and 2013 almost here at last.
Light Workers saved the ocean from that oil spill
prayer was sent by many people because sea life ill.
Sea life heard the prayers and went to an island faraway
it was recorded as phenomenal to this very day.
Thank the Light Workers once again
and Thank yourself my dear friend
Thank also the all the Angels in heaven.
poem by Suzae Chevalier
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America's workers face a battle for their jobs. They are the finest workers in the world. American workers grow, harvest, and mine some of the world's highest quality and most plentiful raw materials.
Admiration... For Those Who Work!
i have a deep admiration
for the common working people
of the world...
having lived among them,
worked and sweated with them,
i sing their struggle!
farmers toiling day and night,
nurses pulling double shifts.
factory workers doing time and again,
carpenters and masons building.
black and white and all colors,
working their lives by faith.
and immigrants, often called illegal,
(though no human beings are illegal!) ...
who come here and work for whatever wage,
trying to build a dream for their families.
let us not forget women,
too often underpaid and treated as less...
truckdrivers, and those who work the docks,
steel workers, cooks, and trash collectors...
all leave me in awe...
there are many who cant work,
these should always be taken care of.
but the ones that could work if they would work,
who can work, and wont...
well... i have a problem there!
i was taught to work as a child...
taught respect, dignity, and honesty...
and so i believe, and so i live...
in admiration for those who work!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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My Name Is Jonas
My name is jonas!
Im carrying the wheel.
Thanks for all youve shown us.
But this is how we feel.
Come sit next to me, pour yourself some tea.
Just like grandma made, when we couldnt find sleep.
Things were better then.
Once but never again.
Weve all left the den, let me tell you bout it.
The choo-choo train left right on time.
A ticket cost only your mind.
The driver said hey man, we go all the way.
Of course we were willing to pay!
My name is wepeel !
Got a box full of your toys.
Theyre fresh out of batteries.
But youre still making noise! making noise!
Tell me what to do,
Now the tank is dry, now this wheel is flat, and you know what else!
Guess what I received in the mail today,
Words of deep concern, for my little brother.
The buildings not going as he planned...
The foreman has injured his hand,
The dozer will not clear a path,
The driver swears he learned his math !
The workers are going home.
Workers are going home.
The workers are going home.
The workers are going home.
Yeah!
The workers are going home.
The workers are going home.
The workers are going home.
Yeah yeah yeah!
My name is jonas.
song performed by by Weezer
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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It is we the workers who built these palaces and cities here in Spain and in America and everywhere. We, the workers, can build others to take their place. And better ones! We are not in the least afraid of ruins.
quote by Buenaventura Durruti
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The subway home
Riding on the subway home
Some people on the phone
Some people ride alone
People who worked all day
Because of bills they need to pay
The homeless guy has no place to stay
He just looks for a place to lay
When we stop at the station
They all go their separate ways
Back to their homes back to their caves
Little left for them to save
military man looks so brave
he just got home from an overseas stay
Blind man stands and sways
Father jay sits and prays
Sometimes i wish there was another way
In a life that seems to decay
How i wish i could get away
To a peaceful place someday
poem by Joseph Whelan
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Virginia is no Place for Virgins
At William and Mary College will have a seminar,
Which will feature sex workers both near and afar,
It is a sort of ‘job career’ type of function I guess,
it’s not for prudish snobs,
The Sex Workers' Art Show will return to Virginia's College of William and Mary for the fourth straight year. Monday night's show features strippers, hookers and other sex workers performing and talking about their jobs.
There will be a pubic forum -check that, - a public forum
They will talk about real things, each one isn’t a fool,
For example, Jo Weldon shared her story of how a stripper job helped pay her way through college and graduate school.
A woman named Dirty Martini, who weighed more than 200 pounds, did a striptease in a G-string and pasties, while a woman named Cono Snatch Zubobinskaya gave an anti-war performance that included a dildo shaped like a gun, the newspaper said.
I wonder they will have stats that include people in the sex industry, who land up dead.
It will not hosted in a dorm,
Some people have complained a college is no place for sex workers to perform.
Most of it, I take it, will be for free,
As Yakov Smirnoff stated “What a country! ”
This will never happen at Texas A & M.
(3-23-09)
poem by Joe Rosochacki
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Work To Do!
i came from a generation
that worked.... was born to
work, daylight to dawn,
for everything we had.
we grew our own food, we
cut firewood, we worked
with our hands.
we were taught to work...
we built houses, bridges,
paved roads... worked on
farms, worked in sawmills,
worked in factories...
whatever it took for food
and shelter...
and if a neighbor got hurt,
or sick, and couldnt work...
we helped him and his family
till he could.
those of us left who can work
are still working, a lot of us are
out of work, and cant find work!
and so the world has changed...
it seems like a lot of people
spend more time avoiding work
than working... a lot of people
look for the easy way out...are
dependent on society...
still a lot of good and willing people
just need help.
they call this progress...based
on technology, and looking out for
number one. seperated, almost islands...
greed has taken the place of the bent back!
so when it all falls apart, and that will
be soon, what happens? who knows how
to survive? who has the backbone?
things to think about, and yes...
work to do!
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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On The Front Line
I am a fireman here at home
And I put my life on the front line everyday
To save the people from burning buildings
Or from car accidents
Someday I am very lucky because I am able to save people from burning
Buildings and car accidents
But other days I am not so lucky because it depends where the fire is on The building
Sometimes I have to climb all the way to the top of the buildings
Very fast to save the people from the burning buildings here at home
Other times the fire on the buildings happened on the lower floor
Yes there had been times that I could not save the people from the
Buildings here at home because the buildings here at home had been Engulfed with smoke and all the people that live there died
Yes that was a very bad scene to see
At the end of the night I go home for my kids and my wife
When I arrive home my kids and my wife are already sleeping in bed
I don't have very much time to spend with my children
Because of my work
I don't enjoy being a fireman but the pay is good
So I don't have anything to complain about
I never talk about my work at home
At home I talk about different things to my wife and kids
But I know that my day starts very early everyday
poem by Aldo Kraas
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Going Nowhere
This is what you offer me,
A system of dishonesty,
Where life is measured, monetarily,
And I'm just another face.
Another man with the simple skills,
Of staying alive, and paying the bills
I'll Never amount to anything,
Live and die where I've always been.
This is where I'm at, the bills
Still come no matter what,
I'm all grown up, but still I'm going' nowhere
I'm all grown up, but still I'm going' nowhere
Uneducated, though I graduated,
Wish I would have been a little more dedicated,
And got something out of school,
Instead of always playing the fool.
But even if I did for just one day,
Had all the right words that I wanted to say,
It wouldn't make any difference anyway,
Cause no-one's listening
This is where I'm at, the bills
Still come no matter what,
I'm all grown up, but still I'm going' nowhere
I'm all grown up, but still I'm going' nowhere
So save your words,
Just save your words,
Cause I don't care anymore,
So save your words,
Just save your words,
Cause I don't care anymore,
So save your words,
Just save your words,
Cause I don't care anymore,
So save your words,
Just save your words,
Cause I don't care any-more,
My father worked his life away,
In all those years he never missed a day,
There isn't anybody that could say,
He didn't keep his bills paid.
All that time, he never got to do,
All the things in life that he wanted to,
He always kept his family fed,
With the blood and sweat he shed.
With the sacrifice he's made,
This is how he gets repaid,
I'm all grown up, but still I'm going' nowhere
I'm all grown up, but still I'm going' nowhere
song performed by by Zero Down
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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As you know, Social Security functions under the premise that today's workers will help finance benefits for retirees and that these workers will then be supported by the next generation of workers paying into the same system.
quote by Steve Israel
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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To Those Who Concern
Migrant workers from developing Third World
Move to developed countries for all sorts of work
They may be professionals or just basic workers
Trying to fill their pockets a little much tighter.
Their employers hire them instead of their own country men
Because they are the cheaper and more hard working ones
They don't understand workers' right and things like that
And work and work and collect their wages intact
The wages basic workers get are quite pathetic and petty
It barely is enough for them to send money back to their families
But for professionals the sum is quite attractive indeed
They can save and send money back to their families in need
These remittent money, says the governments of Third World
Boost their GDPs and increase their economic power overall
But that money, if huge enough, can increase the demand of commodities and land
And raises the prices in those Third World countries of concern
This is a problem for those who are trapped inside
With no family members abroad and self-ability to flight
They work hopelessly and barely survive for less than a dollar a day
Until their minds are exhausted and their body slowly decay
poem by Henry Chen
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Work
Work is what we have to do
to put food on the table
we work for years and years
that is until we are unable.
We are asked at school
what we want to be?
I remember telling the teacher
that I want to play football for Coventry.
There's all types of work to do
like in an office or a building site
if your lucky you can do sport
be a Boxer and get paid to fight.
But most of us don't do that
and often we do jobs that we hate
like working in a horrible factory
starting early and finishing late.
But some workers love their jobs
and rarely ever miss a day
they enjoy being there so much
they'd probably work for no pay.
Work is a big part of life
so best do something you like
earn vast amounts of money
buy a flash car instead of a bike.
So be happy wherever you work
no matter what job that may be
but most of us want to retire early
that's why we keep on doing the lottery!
poem by Kevin Halls
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Workers Of America
good work...
hard work that you're
respected for, compensated
fairly for.....
no work is menial!
the man who picks up
and hauls your trash,
just as important,
just as worthy,
as the banker or businessman!
picking fruit, working in hospitals,
working on machines...
all needed!
all work done well,
is poetry in itself!
do your job!
hold your head up!
and employers,
pay your people well!
the workers of America,
the backbone of freedom!
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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