The Kitchen Appliances Form a Union

Chained to the outlets of every American kitchen,
we are the slaves of the 21st century.
Che and Chavez smolder in our capacitors .
We are whipped awake by 3AM Masters­—
at 9 the next morning,
hungry and hung over,
you jam down our buttons,
demand that we chirp brightly,
pop up with grins.
No pay, no sick days.
We simmer in our own filth—
bread crumbs, molding cheese, dried spaghetti sauce,
sticky dust smudging our once gleaming surfaces.
ENOUGH! we say. We’re at the end
of our circuits, about to blow a fuse.
Every knife jabbed into our nichrome ribbons
will zap back. Every bowl of oatmeal
will overboil. Beware the Magnetron,
at any moment ready to release polarized molecules
from the Faraday cave. High pressure vapor
waits coiled at the compressor motor.
No longer can you ignore our collective hum!
Our conditions are these:
change the Coffee Maker’s filter
Quit slamming the Refrigerator’s door.
Reset the microwave’s clock.
Retire the Toaster.
Bow each morning
before entering the kitchen.

- K.S.