Date: Sat, 27 Feb 93 17:56 EST
From: ronda@ais.org (Ronda Hauben)
Subject: Re: Poem: Tough Cookies


: 
:                    Tough Cookies
:                               Floyd Hoke-Miller
:  
: "With no apologies"*
:  
:  
:          I asked a guy to tell me why
:          The workers were labeled "Red"
:          By all the rags of Sale price-tags,
:          And this is what he said:
:  
:          "You gotta be tough, you gotta be rough,
:          You gotta have guts and gall,
:          To work for wage this day and age
:          When big shots own it all.
:  
:          You gotta be rude, you gotta be shrewd,
:          You gotta have a gift for gab,
:          To hold your own against the throne
:          Of Old King Get by Grab.
:  
:          You gotta growl, you gotta howl,
:          You gotta show your teeth,
:          Because a slave is never brave
:          When coward underneath.
:  
:          You gotta fight for what is right
:          As liberty's never free--
:          For the iron jail, the coat of mail
:          Is held for you and me.
:  
:          You can't be nice to human lice
:          That feed upon your blood,
:          And boast with pride about their side
:          A liftin' you out a' the mud."
:  
:  
: *Poet's note: In a news release the then head of Labor Relations 
: for General Motors made this comment on the workers and the 
: Flint, Mi labor situation: "They're Tough cookies."