Workers' State

BY TERRA OLIVEIRA.

---

the state
is only a beast
in the wrong hands,
and in the right hands
a beast
to those who exploit us.

one day
she will dissolve
and become small,
but only after
we seize it;
only after
oppressed and oppressor
merge to one.

this will take patience,
understanding, and time.

generations of work
and diligence and time;

time in need of defending.

imagine what we could do
with power in the hands of the many:

build hospitals quickly as wuhan.
heal the sick. heal the schools.
let the hands of our brothers
and sisters go free.

                 one by one, hand by hand,
                 laborer by laborer
                 to make that Great Ship
                 be the vessel of the Lord.

---

Terra Oliveira is currently living in Philadelphia, where they are an organizer for the Party for Socialism and Liberation, and the founder and editor of Recenter Press. Their work has been featured in Prolit Magazine, Hooligan Magazine, and others, and they were the Artist-in-Residence at the Schoolhouse at Mutianyu at the Great Wall of China in March of 2017. You can find them on Instagram @terraoliveira_ and Twitter @liberationphl.

Workers' State was previously published in Issue 1 of Peace, Land, and Bread Magazine.