Just leavin’ East Tennessee
by 
Written by Stewart Acuff
The little girl got up and started cloggin’ in her flip flops
When the band played Rocky Top
Good ole’ Rocky Top
Rocky Top, Tennessee
The picnic was on the banks of Reedy Creek
Behind the Electricians Hall
One of hundreds across America on
Labor Day
Good, hard workin’ union folks
They work every election, serve as deacons.
And volunteer firefighters, even preachers,
Take care of their families, teach their kids
Compassion and respect and doin’ the
Right thing
So they worked their asses off for
Harold Ford in ’06
And Obama in ’08
They and millions like them will work their asses off now.
They’re the reasons in spite of rightwing shenanigans, bullshit, and dirty money
Obama will win.
© Creative Commons Copyright 2012
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Stewart Acuff is America’s best-known and foremost labor organizer. He is the former organizing Director of the AFL-CIO. Acuff has also written two books: Playing Bigger Than You Are: A Life in Organizing, and Getting America Back to Work, coauthored by Dr. Richard Levins.
Tags: acuff, poem, poetry, prose, stewart acuff
