Essential Workers
Poetry Contest
Write a poem (of any style) in honor of essential workers.
I would like to invite you to go deep.
Here is an example written by Catch22:
Essential Worker
When you give up your breath
for the Fatherland,
when you surrender your right
so someone more entitled
can breathe easier, sans mask,
then you forget your value,
and no politician will value your vote.
When they call you ?essential?
but don?t award hazard pay,
you?re essentially declaring your worth?s
not worth their time of day.
When they call you to the ER,
half-awake and delirious from the last shift,
and they don?t give you proper PPE,
what do you tell your kids
dreaming in their sleep?
Perhaps their lives are less than
a corridor of horrors and indifference.
When they call you to the classroom
and don?t give you what you need
to teach each lesson twice
(both live and virtually),
then common sense is discarded;
nothing else is left to teach.
When you report to the meat plant
just to pay your monthly rent,
they tell you you?re a patriot,
but what exactly is the cause?
When they call you selfish
for refusing their safety guarantees,
they?ve said your life is less than
the health of the economy.
You see, freedoms are not free.
They must be paid, eventually,
by the suckers and essential workers
to maintain a healthy democracy.
The contest winner will win half of the prize pool which is based on the number of entries. The second and third place winners will each share the remaining prize pool. The prize pool is currently 50.00 member dollars. There are 8 spots still open. If all open spots are used the prize pool will be 90.00 member dollars. In this contest at least 2 submissions must be made for the vote to begin.
Deadline: Contest is closed. Deadline was Monday, October 12, 2020.
Full Contest Listing
I would like to invite you to go deep.
Here is an example written by Catch22:
Essential Worker
When you give up your breath
for the Fatherland,
when you surrender your right
so someone more entitled
can breathe easier, sans mask,
then you forget your value,
and no politician will value your vote.
When they call you ?essential?
but don?t award hazard pay,
you?re essentially declaring your worth?s
not worth their time of day.
When they call you to the ER,
half-awake and delirious from the last shift,
and they don?t give you proper PPE,
what do you tell your kids
dreaming in their sleep?
Perhaps their lives are less than
a corridor of horrors and indifference.
When they call you to the classroom
and don?t give you what you need
to teach each lesson twice
(both live and virtually),
then common sense is discarded;
nothing else is left to teach.
When you report to the meat plant
just to pay your monthly rent,
they tell you you?re a patriot,
but what exactly is the cause?
When they call you selfish
for refusing their safety guarantees,
they?ve said your life is less than
the health of the economy.
You see, freedoms are not free.
They must be paid, eventually,
by the suckers and essential workers
to maintain a healthy democracy.
The contest winner will win half of the prize pool which is based on the number of entries. The second and third place winners will each share the remaining prize pool. The prize pool is currently 50.00 member dollars. There are 8 spots still open. If all open spots are used the prize pool will be 90.00 member dollars. In this contest at least 2 submissions must be made for the vote to begin.
Deadline: Contest is closed. Deadline was Monday, October 12, 2020.
