LET’S PRETEND
H. W. Bryce
Let’s pretend that we are all grown up
And wise to the world,
That today’s dollar buys more than our
1945 dollar.
That all is fair in today’s overblown
Economy, that
Our 1945 dollar is not our chump change today.
Let’s pretend
That the news today is right,
That all is well in our country,
That migrant workers have it good,*
That housing is more than adequate,
That there are no insidious bugs, of
either sort, or rodents running around,
That migrant workers doing necessary
Jobs that we don’t fill are not sleeping
On the floor, a drafty floor where the
Ambient temperature can plunge ten
To fifteen degrees overnight. That
The people-runners pay them on a
Fair wage policy…
Remember the eighties…
History repeating…
Nothing changes…
Let’s pretend
Because
We don’t know these things
Until they break out like measles
In the news,
About our town,
Where we live, oblivious,
Bound by our own self borders,
Thinking mainly of ourselves
And our kin, struggling,
Struggling in an ever-changing
Always confusing world…
Fair play?
Where do we find that?
Where does the migrant?
Where does fair play live?
Let’s pretend that we know.
Lest we become hypocrite…
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Photo by Mark Stebnicki: https://www.pexels.com/photo/farmers-harvesting-crops-9798966/
