the sweat shop floor is home
to an immigrant slave
punishment is cruel and harsh
if you don't behave
thinking and questioning
foolishly so brave
thinking they are alone
in a country so proud
silence of the underdog
so deafeningly loud
police ignore, blind eye
head bowed
when they escape
the au pair, child minder
nanny, weaver, seamstress
barista coffee grinder
sheet metal worker
backstreet bookbinder
I am Spartacus uttered
on every impoverished lip
in every dark corner
of a container ship
nothing more to lose
suicidal fellowship
