Two poems for Labor Day:

I.

Without you

Nothing happens

In this land

Whether you work

On an assembly line,

In an office

In an espresso stand

Or a burger joint,

The places

Where you fuel

The work of most of those

Who labor in other places

The day care center

Where you tend the future

The classroom

Where you help

All of us

Learn to be us

The night corridors

Where you mop, sweep,

Vacuum, polish

Disinfect the spaces

Where all else

Occurs;

The street

Where you march

To change what is

To what must be

If we are to live

Or where you

Sleep

In discomfort

And indignity

Each night

Your labor

The simple task

Of remaining alive