sweat shops

The status quo
Madness justified,
Escalates

Look upon the greed
Hold your eyes open

See the mark of the beast
On every scanner bar
In every store
On every item

Scandalous
Scenarios
More money than morals
Not worth the quarrels

Flow with the demented
Wade up the main steam
And drown in the undertow

Fold into the myth
Of the dream
As it enslaves

Television and debt
Sedation and satiation
Demoralized masses
Tune in
To tune out
And buy
The lie

Hunkered down
In their private caves
Don’t bother to complain

True votes in the USA
Are cast through dollars
Left behind by misinformed
Wanderers
Trudging around
The halls of the malls
Looking for more
To buy for less
To fill the hole
Where life used to be

The security guards
Guarding the security
Of the vendors
and shoppers
Who are unaware
or don’t know or care
How those cheap goods
Got there

They’re safe now
Secure
Free
To shop
For a price
A proxy paid
By one not-so-free

One afraid
Powerless
Injured
Unprotected
Disrespected
Used…
…Up

For a shoe
or a shirt
they’re hurt
in a ten-hour day
For thirty cents pay

More tidy little packages
Wrapped in stars and stripes forever
Tied up with ribbons and bows
Through blood the market flows

Discount prices
Paid with lives
Long discounted
Ever abandoned
No justice demanded