Who was first?
Who first stood atop the empire state?
Who first slipped into Khufu's tomb?
Who first walked across the stones of the Great Wall,
wind biting their face?
Who first plunged into the darkness beneath the Channel?
Who first watched the sun set across the Bay,
suspended on the skeleton of the Golden Gate?
Who was first?
You'd say impossible,
I'd say "the workers".
We forget too easily
how we owe everything to them.
our homes, our connections,
water at the curl of a finger,
light at the flick of a switch.
Without them, even the richest man would
live like a peasant.
Yet today we look away
or worse, never look at all.
We let them trade lives for profit,
watch in silence as they stomp over
the people who should be worth the most.
Pocketing pennies,
whilst their blood stains everything we've built.
Copyright © Shane Zhao | Year Posted 2025
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