Sweatshops

by Rook

Published October 7, 2013

E - Everyone

In Poetry: 2013

I work day in, day out,
For the ones I care about.
Tick Tock. Stitch Stitch.

Seven cents a shirt,
Oh how my hands hurt.
Tick tock. Stitch Stitch.

I work more hours in the day,
Than the dollars I get for pay.
Tick tock. Stitch Stitch.

No food, no drinks, no breaks,
I’ll do whatever it takes.
Tick tock. Stitch Stitch.

My fingers, my neck, my back,
they all hurt while I work on my stack.
Tick Tock. Stitch stitch.

I earned three dollars today.
I need more money. I’ll probably stay.
I’ll work in the night,
Because money is tight,
At my tightly packed home,
Where they sit all alone:
My little sisters and brother,
without any mother.
Tick tock. Stitch stitch.

Finish one, get another,
finish one, get another,
this is the never-ending pattern.
I miss my little brother,
and first one sister, then the other,
but my boss shows no concern,
he only cares about the money he will earn.
Tick tock. Stitch stitch.

In this sweatshop there is so much sorrow.
Maybe things will be better tomorrow.
Tick tock. Stitch stitch.

The door in the back
is ne’er open a crack,
it never hangs slack
on its hinges.
Tick tock. Stitch stich.

I feel like I’ve been sitting here for years,
with no one to wipe my tears.
Tick tock. Stitch Stitch.

Comments & reviews · 4
Random avatar
emeraldfox
Review
emeraldfox wrote a review Review · Nov 30, 2014

Hello, fortis! I'm emeraldfox, representing Team EarthBenders this Review Day!

I love this poem, although it does make me very sad. You perfectly captured how harsh the conditions are for children in sweatshops. You reminded us that these are not a thing of the past; there are still many children worldwide that must do difficult work for incredibly low wages. These children have to quit school to provide for their families at a young age and even still do not make enough. Then, they will most likely be stuck in that same sweatchop for the better part of their lives because they weren't able to get an education. You really opened some eyes by writing this to show how unfair child labor is. The rhymes and meter in this poem were flawless. I also liked how it was in first person. This gives a more personal view of life in sweatshops. You didn't have any spelling, grammar, formatting, or capitalization mistakes.

There were a few punctuation errors though, namely with the overuse of commas.
In the first stanza, the first line should not have a comma.
In the third stanza, the first line should not have a comma.
In the fourth stanza, the first line should either have a period or a semicolon.
In the sixth stanza, the third, fourth, and fifth lines don't need a comma.
In the tenth stanza, the first line does not need a comma.

This was a very eye-opening look at child labor and I learned a lot reading and reviewing it. Great job, fortis!

"YWS is blue,
Our team is green.
We're the best reviewers
You've ever seen."
-@pendr for Team Earthbenders

User avatar
yubbies21
Review
yubbies21 wrote a review Review · Oct 27, 2013

Wow! It's yubbies21 here to review this today!

This is simply amazing, this poem! I love it's simple rhyme, easy and unforced, the mental images that they created!

I couldn't find any awkward wording or such in this poem, so good job to you! The rhyming was simple too, easy to follow and didn't sound like your worked the poem around the rhyme.

I love the repeated lines,

Tick tock. Stitch stitch.
It just felt like it took forever to make a shirt, which it probably did.

Where did you get the inspiration for this?

Happy Review day!

yubbies21

Rook replied · Oct 28, 2013

This was actually a school assignment! :D
Thank you for your review!

User avatar
DreamWork
Review
DreamWork wrote a review Review · Oct 7, 2013

Hi fortis,here I am to make my review on your poem :)
Agree with Knight Messenger here,but I would like to give some about what I like in your poem.I feel comfortable when reading your poem, just a little ripple when you use excessive punctuation here.

Tick Tock. Stitch Stitch.

Does Tick Tock refer to the clock and stitch was your duty/job? I think yes.Well,then you have a good idea to present your misery within earning a living / income for your sister and brother.
I’ll work in the night,
Because money is tight,
At my tightly packed home,
Where they sit all alone:
My little sisters and brother,

Diction that you use is simple and I was impressed with the final verse in your poem;
I feel like I’ve been sitting here for years,
with no one to wipe my tears.

Very nice poem you bring here!I totally like it.
Keep it up,kudos.
Cheers :D

Rook replied · Oct 7, 2013

Thanks for your review! :)

User avatar
Messenger
Review
Messenger wrote a review Review · Oct 7, 2013

The Messenger Knight here to review for the KotGR.
So I liked how this was written out and the whole history of the Main Character's life, as well as how his boss is so crazy about getting money and how it is ruining the MC's life was done really well . . . and yet I have no idea what it is that the job takes so much time and involves stitching. Is he/she a sewer, or perhaps a doctor and it involves sewing up after surgery, and I just really don't know.
I think fixing that would really help me to understand what is going on. But other than that good job. Not a master for punctuation so I will leave that for others.
Keep it up!

Rook replied · Oct 7, 2013

Hey! Thanks for the review!
The person in this poem works in a sweat shop (there were more details to specify this in the original homework assignment, but the rhymes were REALLY forced, and I deemed them unnecessary) where they sell clothes. (Ergo the "seven cents a shirt") so you had the guess of sewer right. Sweatshops are generally associated with the production of clothes.
If you don't really know what a sweatshop is, here's a link to wikipedia :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweatshop
Thanks again for your review!

Ok, gotcha.



Sometimes wisdom came from strange places, even from giant teenaged goldfish.
— Rick Riordan, The Mark of Athena