May Day May Day We're Going Down I Mean Up

Because greed has worldwide dominion
and rats grow fat where babies starve and wail

because a people craves another's land
and goads them to rage so they can steal

because old men in banks crave solace
in the bony grip of money's lovely fist

because war has the fullest dominion
in time of chirping texts and killer apps

because of all this thirst for death,
a necrophile's dream... well, this is where we are

But old lords will not swell forever sleek
on blood, chupacabras of commerce

and rats which feed on the corpses of children
bulldozed under rubble will not feed tomorrow

and layers upon layers of command
from boss to boss to master are not for all time

because we're all of us entwined and bound
(when we work, when we eat, when we dream)

May Day means Help Me, so we must therefore help
in any way we can, together, arms gripped tight

our clasp held tighter than those bony grasps
that grip the joystick of a drone's control

because we are stronger than them, their force,
their vampire lust for all our flesh and effort

because we stretch our hands from hand to hand
across the worldwide gusts of the changing wind

because we are together on this day, tomorrow
and the day to come - we know that we will win

HAPPY MAY DAY !

¡ FELIZ DIA DEL TRABAJADOR Y TRABAJADORA !

(Illustrations by Georg Grosz)