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SEWING MACHINES (Nancy White) She came to Toronto with her husband and her baby Looking for the good life, streets paved with gold Freedom of expression and a chicken in the pot She hoped she wouldn't mind the legendary cold He went to language school to learn a little English They told her he'd need it more than she ever will As soon as she had learned to say Hello, Goodbye and Thank you She was working on Spadina in a textile mill Cho: Sewing machines, sewing machines, Is that what freedom means? Sewing machines, sewing machines, Is that what freedom means? She gets up at five and puts the house in order Makes the lunch and breakfast, I takes the children to her neighbour Five to eight she clocks and goes to her machine Then it's thirteen hours of hard, hard labour He doesn't like her working but he doesn't help at home Men didn't do that in the old country And he goes out with friends, his wife's no longer fun She's always too tired to love him properly Whatever happened to my Maria? The shiny haired girl with the sparkling eyes I brought her here to this new land of plenty But she just won't Canadian-ize She doesn't learn English like the children and me She's always too tired but I think she's lazy Whatever happened to my Maria? I miss the light in her eye The factory is filthy, the wages are the lowest Sometimes talk of a union makes a stir But the boss just says, "Do you want to be deported?" She doesn't understand that he can't do that to her And so she works her life away without too much complaint After all, she got here; one of the lucky ones She sacrifices dignity, youth, health, and love To make a decent future for her daughter and her son @work @immigrant @work filename[ SEWMACHN CX |
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