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    • 2022: Ergo >
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      • Art
      • Performance
    • 2021: Reformation >
      • Writing
      • Art
      • Performance
    • 2020: The Revival
  • Contact

the children of the revolution

by Sonia Walter
the children of the revolution
portrayed as the saviors

their picture painted on the eternal canvas

but they never had a choice

they never saw the sun

never felt what we feel

faces streaked not with a smile but with slashes of coal 

backs hurting not from playing all day but from carrying weights heavier than themselves

feet sore not from playing tag but from walking for hours on end

never resting 

trapped in a perpetual life

an inescapable cage

built up from empty promises and troubled times

everyone high off the cruelty and pain

but no one with the courage to stop it

for all the young spirits are trapped

waiting for the last ball to drop

the shortest straw to be pulled

for everyone to wake up and see what’s right in front of them

so they wait

wait for the day they can call something their own

wait for the day they can be whole

wait for the day they can go home

for good

so yes, they were saviors

but at what cost

for the children of the revolution were never really children at all

​Artist Statement
I was inspired to write this poem when we learned about child labor in class. It astounded me what children went through during the Industrial Revolution in this country and worldwide throughout time. I drew from the fact that the children that worked in the factories during the Industrial Revolution in the US served as a platform for the building of this country, but these children were forced into this work and many died or were severely injured. I wanted to draw attention to this issue since child labor is still a huge issue in many countries today.
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