A Time for Decision

The ballot box has been filled
With the anger of union members
Fateful hour of decision has passed by

A line has been etched
Into history’s unforgiving sands

How fast ascends the midnight hour
Men, women, resolute in their demands
Hold fast, the many picket lines
March in determination
Picket signs held proud and high

But the company holds tight
To their absolute, corrupt power

When two cultures, like titans crash
A community is caught within
The middle of this most un-winnable war
And is crushed like egg shells
Underneath boots with metal heels

Robber barons from a different land
Eager to force their ways down throats
Of the hard working, middle class
Desire to change union member’s minds
Desire to break a union’s will

Loss of things, quickly pile high
Loss of homes, of love, of dignity

Yet in some abstract way
Though shredded by a cultural war
Tattered, torn by political assault
Some remnants of self respect remain

But self respect does not buy bread
Does not put hats on small heads
When winter in its coldness eats the soul
And though there is a common thread
Among those who protest this assault
Upon living means and decent wage
Bone thin fingers are eager to point the blame
Mouths shaped by bitterness
Are all too quick to name
Each other as the sole author
For this decent into a jobless state

Perhaps at some point in distant time
Wise heads and minds will prevail
And this bitter war between two different cultures
Will end upon the point of some common ground