May Day
This feast day of Joseph the Artisan,
Liberated for Labor from the Church
When congregations of workers began
Gathering to confront the capital rich.
An infamous Haymarket bomb, a hail
Of police bullets, then the hangman’s rope
Demonstrated reasoned reforms would fail:
Workers must make and pursue their own hope.
Now, fourteen decades after the event,
Collective hopes remain unrealised,
So many parties, despite their intent,
Have left capital’s spirit unexorcised.
Yet potential power is marked by May Day,
Of workers turning history their way.
D.A.