Sabbath
(for Dorothy&Gene Stolzfus)
J. Quinn Brisben 2 AUG 2004
So I said to the boss: “No can do,
Sorry, but it’s carved in stone,
A day of rest and prayer for me,
And, if I pray in an easy chair with
A tall cold one beside me while
Watching the kids on their swing set,
It’s my worship and not your concern.”
I told him I had decided to become
More religious, seeing how big God was
Compared to bosses, and from now on
I down tools promptly at sundown
Thursday because Allah is great, right?
And I continue on worshipping sundown
Friday because I am an observant Jew,
And don’t you dare doubt that because
Nobody but a Jew would claim to be a Jew.
And don’t even think about calling me back
Saturday night, because the last time
You did that someone threw wooden shoes
Into the works and broke the machines.
And, of course, I do not work Sunday
Because I am a Christian, Hallelujah!
So maybe I will see you Monday morning
For another thirty-hour week because
Saint Thomas More, amen, says that
Is all a person should have to do.
If you have to keep the machines going
For the other half-week, I have an
Unbelieving buddy who sells me cold
Six-packs on weekends and runs cameras
At ball games, but he celebrates
The old worker holiday of Saint Monday
And does not show up Tuesday either
Just to make sure you get the message;
And every Wednesday is a holiday
For the martyrs of the working class
That lasts until sundown Thursday
For he, like me, is for saving the world.
And we talk to fellow workers in Spanish,
In Arabic, in Chinese, and in deaf and dumb
To pick up lots of ideas for new holidays,
For we are not bigots about limiting days off
To only those known to Abraham’s offspring;
From now on we have decided that ideas
Should cross borders just as easily as your cash.
So, if you start waving guns and clubs at us,
The work stops everywhere until your goons
And scabs back down and the money starts
Rolling down upon us like a mighty stream.
That’s the future, boss: if you’ve got to sell,
The rest of us must have enough to buy,
And you don’t scare us anymore because
I have decided that fearing God is a
Better bet for me than fearing the boss,
And my unbelieving buddy disbelieves
In rules that always stack the game
Against him and is coming to disbelieve
In the need for bosses altogether.
So that’s the way things stand now.
When we get this contract enforced,
We will be back to negotiate
Some more. We have an old idea
Called the Jubilee that we would
Like to put back on the table.
