Saturday, May 10, 2008

Graffiti: The Words of the Beloved in Modernspeak

come to me

all you who are workers

and are tired, and very tired

come to me all you who are workers and are tired, and very tired and have been beaten down and unappreciated and...

come to me all you who are past weary to the bone

slandered misunderstood reviled by bosses who toss you to the wolves each day forgetting how many times you have sweated blood for them loyal to the end

bosses who ply rules corporation corporate interests while CEOs live off the fat of your labor

come to me all you who work random shifts week to week whatever hours the boss says 24/7 and don't know until Thursday what the schedule that starts Sunday will be...

have to ask the boss's permission to sing in the choir... go to the doctor… schedule surgery... have a day you call your own

yet are only paid for the hours you work regardless of not owning permission to say 'when' or ‘what’ or ‘how you spend the rest of them’ - forced to give all your hours to the company for their use but only paid for the ones you actually 'work'

come to me

come to me all you who have bills to pay and can't feed your family come to me all you who do not earn a living wage

come to me all you who put your shoulder to the grindstone to save water in a drought and cut water usage 30% but now must pay a 15% hike in water costs

come to me all you who got a 3% wage increase when the cost of living rose 12%+ come to me all you who can't afford groceries because the price of gasoline is crippling everyone

except the oil barons

who are getting richer

come to me all you who are uninsured

come to me all you who are hungry

come to me all you who are working part-time and can't take out cash advances anymore and it doesn't matter how hard you are working to find more income it doesn't matter it doesn't matter it's not the boss's concern

come to me all you who don't own a car and are walking forty minutes to work now because you can't even afford public transportation walking walking walking even though early Spring is the heat of summer in Atlanta

come to me all you workers with Master's degrees who are applying for jobs at bookstores

come to me all you whose houses are on the auction block

being purchased by investors

who feed off the dreams that have died like vultures

circling, circling

circling the dying

come to me all you who can't pay your bills who are defaulting on all your obligations who can't answer the phone because creditors don't hear "don't have enough" "taking out cash advances to pay rent" "don't have a car or cell phone or DSL or..." because creditors say 'how about ten dollars' 'can you give us ten dollars' 'I need ten dollars' 'if you don't pay at least ten dollars'

come to me all you who can't even afford to go bankrupt

come to me

come to me all you 400+ city workers who got swiped off the employment rolls in Atlanta because the mayor needs to cut expenses and eighteen & twenty year city careers mean nothing

come to me all you baristas who have had coffee thrown in your face and must smile at the customer because if you complain you will be blacklisted from working

come to me

come to me all you workers who stay loyal to the shop while everyone else finds another job and then don't get a raise because the boss keeps store 'expenses' down to make her profit margin look better than anyone else in the company

who finagles your review to make it look like your 110% commitment loyalty energy effort experience product knowledge enthusiasm dedication length of time with the company being there when others laid out just weren't good enough to merit that raise

come to me all you who have landlords tell you to get out when you explain you don't have money to pay rent registered letters "o we tried to work with you & you would not" "be out by Thursday" when today is Tuesday today is Tuesday & where can you go but the street

come to me America o come to me!

come to me, all you women of the night, harlots, prostitutes, madams facing imprisonment while the men skulk in lives lived, lives unpunished

come Rahab, Tamar

come to me

come to me daughters come to me sons come to me you voiceless ones

come to me and I will give you rest

come to me and I will give you rest

where those who have will not have and those who do not have will be given

where the first will be last and the last will be first

come to me and I will give you a home in the house of my Father

come to me for I will give

a place where you can have rest

where you can be rested and resting and continuing in rest

come unto me all ye that travail & are heavy laden

for I will give you rest

[Editor's note. Matthew 11:28 John 14:2 and Matthew 9:13

Rahab: Hebrew 11:31 James 2:25 (You might also check the original story in the Old Testament.)

Tamar: Gen 38:24-26 (Of interest that three Tamars are a portion of the history of Israel. Two of the three were wronged women; the third was named Tamar by a brother to honor his raped sister…)

Luke 16:25

Above from the Christian Bible. Look them up.

O America....]

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