[Oils: drawn
From cracked and bloodied crusts
Of soils
Permeate
Your streamlined and shined
Comforting burrow.
They receive a coin
Of thanks;
And that coin
Draws out
Another drop
Of suffocation.]
[Oils: drawn
From cracked and bloodied hands
Of children
‘Pregnate
Your softened and shined
Cotton blouse.
They receive a crumb
Of thanks;
And that crumb
Draws out
Another drop
Of survival.]
Cottonopolis, Nov. 2021
Zeitgeist of things past, or present?
Brief History of our current economic system’s legacy:
Cottonopolis, also known as Manchester, UK. Birthplace of the Industrial Revolution
Indentured child laborers in the first industrial cotton mills would have their natural skin-oils ‘stripped’ and absorbed while handling the cotton; this had the dual effect of unintentionally softening the cotton & also cracking their skin, leaving their entire body susceptible to further (and frequent) infections.
These ‘children of industry’ needed to work to survive, since home life was overcrowded. Some started indentured work as early as ages 4 or 5, under 20+ year contracts. Many died or were debilitated before the termination of the contract from diseases and poor working conditions; many who reached contract term continued working at the mills.