United States, (b. 1944)
Smithfield Workers’ Testimonial
- Shoulder to shoulder in a mechanical line,
- we butcher 1,100 pigs an hour into cuts:
- loin, chops, ribs, belly, for your dinner.
- When the governor of Missouri declared
- a state of emergency, our lines shrunk:
- 8 became 10 became 20 workers
- sent home sick. When the company closed
- plants in 3 other cities, we worried:
- Should we stay home? But in Milan,
- a small town of few jobs, losing even
- a day’s wages robs food from our tables.
- Until they tear, we wear the same gloves,
- the same masks. With 15 minutes for break
- and 30 for lunch, who among us has time
- to wash hands? The plant advertised
- a “responsibility bonus” of $500.00
- for not missing a shift April 1–May 1,
- a sum that would not even cover a funeral.
- Now we are told if we stay home
- to keep ourselves and our families safe,
- we will be fired. We must work to make
- a living, but no job is worth a life.
About the Poet:
Jane Ellen Glasser, United States, (b. 1944), is a poet, educator, reviewer and editor. Her poetry has appeared in numerous journals, such as The Hudson Review, The Southern Review, The Virginia Quarterly Review, and The Georgia Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Poetry Northwest and others. In the past Glasser reviewed poetry books for The Virginian-Pilot, edited poetry for the The Ghent Quarterly and Lady Jane’s Miscellany, and co-founded the nonprofit arts organization and journal New Virginia Review.
She has given presentations and conducted workshops for the International Society of Poetry, Writing Project at College of William & Mary, Tidewater Writing Project at Old Dominion University, and the Florida’s First Coast Writer’s Festival. For several years she served as poet-in-the-schools and visiting poet throughout Virginia before assuming a sixteen-year position as English and creative writing teacher at Norview High School in Norfolk, Virginia.
Glasser has presented readings and workshops for audiences as diverse as students in the Poet-in-the Schools Program, inmates at the Broward Detention Center, and participants in national poetry conferences. Glasser is a member of The Poetry Society of Virginia and The Fort Lauderdale Writers’ Group. [DES-06/22]
Additional information:
- Jane Ellen Glasser – https://janeellenglasser.com/
- Jane Ellen Glasser on Twitter – https://twitter.com/glasser_jane