Guest poem sent in by Jade
(Poem #1485) Untitled What scares them most is
That NOTHING HAPPENS!
They are ready
For DISTURBANCES.
They have machine guns
And soldiers,
But this SMILING SILENCE
Is uncanny.
The business men
Don't understand
That sort of weapon . . .
It is your SMILE
That is UPSETTING
Their reliance
On Artillery, brother!
It is the garbage wagons
That go along the street
Marked "EXEMPT
by STRIKE COMMITTEE."
It is the milk stations
That are getting better daily,
and the three hundred
WAR Veterans of Labor
Handling the crowds
WITHOUT GUNS,
For these things speak
Of a NEW POWER
and a NEW WORLD
That they do not feel
At HOME in.
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Note: "Printed in the Seattle Union Record (a daily newspaper put out by
labor people)" -- Howard Zinn
I found this poem in one of my AP History text books at school ("A People's
History of the United States" by Howard Zinn.) On February 6, 1919 (shortly
after World War I) Seattle, Washington started a city-wide strike. The only
people that stayed on the job were laundry workers who did only hospital
laudry, firemen and authorized vehicles that had signs saying "Exempted by
the General Strike Committee." Meals were prepared in thirty-five milk
stations and transported all over the city. Strikers payed twenty-five
cents and the general public thirty five for as much beef stew, spaghetti,
bread and coffee.
"A Labor War Veteran's Guard was organized to keep the peace. On the
blackboard at one of its headquarteres was written: 'The purpose of this
organization is to preserve law and order without the use of force. No
volunteer will have any police power or be allowed to carry weapons of any
sort, but to use persuasion only.' During the strike, crime in the city
decreased. The commander of the U.S. army detachment sent into the area
told the strikers' committee that in forty years of military experience he
hadn't seen so quiet and orderly a city" (Zinn 378)
Many people believe that, without force, peace and civilization cannot be
maintained. But this poem and passage speak contrary to that. The strike
stopped after five days.
Jade
[Links]
An extensive set of excerpts from Zinn's text, giving the historical background
to the poem:
[broken link] http://colfa.utsa.edu/users/jreynolds/Textbooks/WWI/ZinnIWW.html
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