What Would They Have Without Us
Poem of the Week
You want working class anthems? I got ‘em.
This poem first appeared in Keeping the Flame Alive’s one year anniversary edition. There are, I believe, over 90 poets featured in the magazine, and you should go check it out here. You can look at all nine of their issues for free there.
What Would They Have Without Us the iron rails of the continental train track that connected our country from coast to coast did not lay themselves Henry Ford’s affordable cars did not automatically assemble the airplanes that roar through the skies like birds the computers that do all of the rich man’s dirty work the houses and homes that we live in all of these came from the calloused hands of hard working people the mighty swaths of asphalt river highways that the nation’s commerce that our families and neighbors that our police and military all drive on were all formed - poured and built by workers the helicopter your company’s CEO uses to skip rush hour traffic the finely tailored business suits they wear and the ornate conference tables they sit around scheming of ways to get richer these were all made by workers the White House Rose Garden is maintained by workers the lectern that the President declares war on the poor from was built by a worker the halls - that Supreme Court Justices hide behind midnight black cloaks in- were built and are swept by American workers when the rich and the powerful sit down to eat tonight they eat food grown by workers on plates and cutlery made by workers and when they close their eyes in their big soft beds they no doubt dream of new ways to cheat the workers they rely on they say that without the rabid dog tycoons that none of us would have jobs or money without these shark tooth lions of industry all of us would starve they tell us that if it wasn’t for the brilliancy of the billionaire mind that none of us would make it in this natural world but comrades I ask you just what would they have and where would they be if not for the iron spines in our backs and our stubborn steel resolve to make certain that our children get a little dessert, too ©️Dan Denton 2025
Love,
Dan
Ps. I’m trying to hustle up $30 to enter into the annual Rattle Poetry Prize. The prize has thousands of entries every year, but the entrance fee also covers my annual subscription to Rattle. It’s one of the few places I ever pay a fee to submit, but the subscription is worth it. If you’d like to help, you can get a copy of the chapbook pictured, or any of my other books, by sending a donation here, and I’ll gladly send you a copy. Namaste.
Nah, I’m a stay…