Poetry

Trapped In A Spider’s Web

A vicious cycle of child labour.

“A Spider’s Web” — Image by Ulrike Leone from Pixabay (cropped)

The stories of the kids I read trapped in child labor and a spiderweb I noticed on my morning walk acted as inspiration for a story. Dead leaves were trapped in the spiderweb swaying in the breeze.

It created a visual metaphor in my mind for the pain, despair, and hope of kids trapped in a vicious cycle of work during their childhood.

Trapped In A Spider Web

At the crack of dawn, another quaker;
we’re woken up in twilight’s dark surreal realm — a life shaker.
Leaving our family’s shared small shack for yet another day’s lackey labor.

If we’re lucky, we’ll be fed;
a slice for breakfast sharing with many siblings — thinly spread.
Dragging pitter-patter footsteps on an icy-cold floor echo our dizzying dread.

Chapped weathered hands and feet;
scarred, mis-figured, cruel cut tools of our trade’s bleed.
Hunting in dreck, landfills, or eerie mines for tiny treasures — our creed?

Every day;
work from dawn till dusk — cold or hot, wet or dry, no time to play.
we slave away: sweat, blood, and tears so…