We’re through sweating blood
Loading cargo five times the
weight we should carry
Standing morning after
morning screaming
“Men along the shore” like
slaves
In a slave market begging for
a bidder
We’ll be out you’ll see
WE”LL BE OUT
And then hell can’t stop us
HELL CAN’T STOP US
That was the meaning
Of the lines of women and
children
Marching up Market Street
HELL CAN’T STOP US
That was the meaning
Of the seamen, the oilers,
The wipers, the mastermates,
The pilots and the scalers
For years we were nothing to
them
Only nameless beasts of
burden
But now we’re solid
Even if it means
GENERAL STRIKE
There was the moment
The first bruise in the
hearts
Of those who thought they
were our masters
Who started the violence?
Who ordered the clubbing?
Armed forces massacring
unarmed
Get out of here
GET OUT OF HERE
You sonofabitches it doesn’t
matter
It doesn’t stop us
We won’t forget what happened
today
Go on
NOTHING CAN STOP US NOW!
© Margaret Cooley 2009