longer.blue

Love Letter to Middle Class This to all of you The bakers and the truck makers The fast food grease warriors Late night drive thru-drunk driver tolerators That guy with the dream house He can no longer afford to maintain Or repair He used to make the mortgage With a little to spare This is to the call center operators America’s verbal punching bags Being screamed at and degrated Cant afford to hit back As their jobs are day-traded The mechanics Trying to be honest With their own bills to pay The cops in the right lane Who havent lost their way The paramedic who shows up And has your back Whether you’re white Or latino Or asian Or black The is nothing Without us Mighty are the middle class There is no mail Without the postal worker The union behind her No package without the handler No delvery without the driver We are America Stop Being Silent We show up each day Accepting some form of violence For some it’s the baton For some it’s the bullet For some it’s the diagnosis And lack if insurance Stand up! Are you not tired of this? The lying, the facade, The promises unkept It’s left It’s right We are all caught In The middle… Rise up! And claim your power It Is Really That Simple This is to all of you The mother and the fathers Brothers and the sons And especially the daughter With the prepaid college fund And house under water And on fire For the one who counsels you And helps you see things more clear To the first stepper At the methodone clinic Trying to change his needs To the single mommy Who wasnt prepared for a kid String-beaning it together Hoping that someday, somehow Things will get better than this To the grandparents Raising a grandchild Too tired to sigh Rationing medication On a fixed income to get by The dads who are there Who say it and mean it Who understand That our future depends On the examples they set To the lawn-care worker Barely making the cut The nurses, the teaches, And fireman who have never Been paid enough The co-payers and deductibles The out of pocket minimums Seeing half their check Every single month After all those premiums To the retail workers Caught in the check cashing cycle For whom its always Black Friday Working three jobs with No vacation, no pension, or 401k For a minimum wage For the struggling street artists And the bartenders Who handle your slurring words With patience and class To the small stage musician Dont forget to tip your waitstaff The student loan payers I mean, what can you do? You were sold an American dream With interest…pay up Sorry, if it didn’t work out for you To the soldiers thinking of home Read to fight for your life Are you comfortable? Are you safe? Have you hugged your husband or wife? The real journalists Under real attack For writing real truth And the newspaper printer Who bring the world you To the survivors All those pre-existing conditions It tried to take everything from you But you’re here And every day is a gift To the caretakers And their sacrifice The things they have to do The prices they pay The sleep they lose The janitors and the carpenters The plumbers, the electricians The assembly manufacturer The desperate day laborer The internet technician Stand up! Rise! Assert yourself Mighty is the middle Our numbers Are Our Wealth We are the backbone The pillars The load bearing foundation There is nothing without us.