FASHION Poem: The Labor We Retail, by Messiah Brown

In distant lands of cheap labor’s sway,
A hidden tale of toil unfolds each day,
Workers labor long, for meager pay,
In sweatshops where the sun’s fierce rays hold sway.

With skilled hands, they sew and weave with speed,
Creating garments that will soon be obsolete, indeed,
Fashion’s whims dictate, with each passing year,
Leaving workers with pain, and naught but tears to fear.

The threads they use, harsh, rough, and strong,
Leave their skin scarred, with every stitch, all day long,
Yet still they toil, for their children’s sake,
Their labor, a sacrifice, their future at stake.

We shop, with reckless disregard, it’s true,
For cheaper prices, and clothes that quickly fade anew,
We buy, without a thought, or care, or might,
For those who suffer, to make our clothes shine bright.

Let us awaken, with hearts that now see,
The choices we make, and the consequences we’ll be,
For every garment purchased, holds a story untold,
Of a worker’s life, and the price they’ve been sold.