Cheap flights, cheap hands, cheap lives

by Antoniy T. Georgiev

They pour into the West
Cheap flights, cheap hands, cheap lives
They wear the paint of the oppressors
Yet share the faith of the oppressed
Their fathers and mothers were once told
They were building socialism
Now they are told
To pick asparagus and berries
Sort parcels and haul bricks
Clean floors and scrub toilets

Their bosses like them
They say ‘You never complain’
About the minimum wage
The twelve-hour day
The disgusting abuse at full display
The ruined back that will forever stay

At home their politicians grin gleefully
Smiles full of gluttony and savagery
In between sips of champagne
They proudly say
‘At last, we are Europeans!’
As they sell their people abroad
And all the while
Economists and journalists, thieves and liars
Reach down to pat
Their obedient eastern brothers
And softly tell them
‘Now you are free,
thanks to capitalism and democracy,
free from the communist tyranny’
Ah yes, free
Free to be Western Europe’s new colony
Cheap flights, cheap hands, cheap lives

The image above is 'A Poem Falls to Earth' by David Hugh Lockett