Who’s a Worker? (for Leo, Clarence, Jack, Trent and ILWU Local 10 Brothers and Sisters)

Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence

24 Jun 2020

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I’ve prepped produce; bagged bread;
stocked shelves; pulled products for-
ward on shelves of several stores. So
I bring nothing but love for frontline

Food workers.
I’ve shared warm handmade corn tortillas
and piping hot pinto beans with workers of
Bent back magic:Workers whose brown hands
pull green salads from black soil at warp speed;
for microscopic compensation and appreciation

I’ve broken bread with heroic workers donning
plastic armor fighting infection, slaying pain—
beating back the dragon of death.
And I’ll own my crushes on workers waltzing
articulated coaches through crowded cities—
carrying Colts in purses for personal protection

And I’ve long admired my Longshore Brothers
and Sisters emptying
bulging bags of grain from bellies of ships, un-
stacking skyscrapers of containers from their
decks for warehouses, windows, bellies of the world

I’ve farted blue forklift fumes as a warehouse worker,
swooping on 18-wheelers pulling pallets of TVs off; I’ve
stacked shelves with mufflers, floor jacks, tools; Snatched
stoves and refrigerators from racks stacked: “Too High.”
I’ve swept and mopped floors kitchen clean, emptied waste-
baskets, scrubbed toilets pearly white, moved 55 gallon drums
of oil-laden metal shavings—even poisoned weeds—As a janitor…

So, excuse me if I have a hard time understanding
Workers who kettle kids in tight spaces, shooting projectiles in their faces; Workers who beat strikers with long bats breaking up their militant wildcats;
Workers who grind knees in to necks and receive fat six-figure checks;
Workers who produce
Violence and tension and receive benefits and a pension?

BAR’s poet in residence Raymond Nat Turner is an accomplished performing artist. You can find much more of his work at http://upsurgejazz.com .

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