I’ve read about the tobacco ills <br />In 1905 in Hopkinsville, <br />the Night Riders and their fight <br />To win back their rights. <br /> <br />No Christian charity in their hearts, <br />A lust to bring justice to each family <br />Of tobacco growers in Christian county <br />And all the surrounding parts. <br /> <br />The vigilante acts of masked men in the night <br />With torches blazing, warehouses flaming, <br />Printing presses smashed, men wounded and dying, <br />Trying to crack tobacco manufacturers might, <br /> <br />Conspiring with prices paid below production cost, <br />No mind to farmers and their production loss. <br />It took the military to end the fight. <br />Then the law to set things right. <br /> <br />It’s been a century now. <br />The fight for decent wages rages again. <br />Workers everywhere continue to struggle <br />While their wages are kept low. <br /> <br />Corporations now rule the world, <br />No longer prove to be loyal, <br />Outsourcing jobs while unions are suppressed <br />and workers hardships not addressed. <br /> <br />The poor laborer suffers still <br />And presses on with a will <br /> <br /> <br />(June 28,2007)<br /><br />Ben Gieske<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/night-riders-2/
