The parade is over
Marchers have gone home
Leaving behind their garbage
Uncollected.
Protesting against
The favourite cause
Of the week.
A dwindling voice
From another era
And time
Of the union movement
Searching for direction
And relevancy.
Where true equality
And gender rights
Are yesterday's news
Meant to be forgotten
As last year('s) failures.
Replaced by
The latest brightest
Sexy causes and slogans
To be chanted.
As another generation
Is lost and forgotten
By society.
Believing
They're solved
And logged
Into some dusty
And forgotten
History book.
As a single mother
Struggles to feed
Her family
Living below
The poverty line.
That $15/hr wage
Won't cover
The basics
Of her expenses.
As social assistance
Punish her
With their draconian
Claw backs.
As she sacrifices
Her present
For her children's
Future.
Therisa © 2017
Author's note: Under Ontario law, a person on social assistance (general welfare or disability) can earn $150/month, before losing 50% of the additional gross income that's reported to their caseworker, from their assistance cheque, until it's all claw back. Regardless, if one is receiving welfare or disability, these people are living well below Canada's poverty line, as food banks have become part of the system for getting the bare minimum of their food needs, to avoid starving for the rest of the month.
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