Poem in response to Peace, Justice and Strong Insitution

April 2019

A day in the life of injustice

By Georgia Bernbaum

CC Image Courtesy of Imagens Evangélicas

I wake up at 6:00 am

I eat my breakfast: waffles with syrup

I put on my clothes: new jeans and a t-shirt

I pack my backpack: notebooks, pencils, computer

I drive to school

I wake up at 4:00 am

I walk to get water: it is 3 miles

I make breakfast for everyone: porridge

I put on my clothes: an old dress and my hijab

I get my younger siblings ready: I have 6

I walk to work

I go to debate club and track

I earn an education and opportunities

I drive home: it is late  

I do my homework

My mom cooks dinner

I work all day

I earn money

I walk home: it is late

A van drives by and I’m pulled in

I do not get dinner or to see my family again

I wake up at 10:00 am: it is Saturday

I make coffee

I turn on the news

Channel 2 is talking about a problem sweeping the world

Human trafficking: modern day slavery

I can’t imagine

I wake up: I think it is Saturday

My hands are tied

I’m in the dark

A man grabs me and drags me into another room

I am sold

I can imagine because this is my life and the lives of 40 million other people

This is human trafficking. This is injustice.