the clean room
in order to come in,
you must first put on:
1.
hairnet
2.
shoe covers
3.
gloves
4.
mask
5.
hood
6.
cover-all
7.
boot covers
8.
goggles
9.
gloves
when you exit,
you must discard:
1.
gloves
2.
goggles
3.
hood
4.
mask
5.
boot covers
“no, you cannot bring
anything inside the room.
no cell phones,
no watch, no nothing.”
“you have to go
to the changing room
before you go in to work”
“i always wear my head band.”
“they don’t like you
to wear sneakers.
they like you wear
the shoes they give you.
my feet is hurt”
“it’s hard to breathe,
sometimes. oh my god”
“you can only
call me on
my break, okay?
8:30 or 12:30”
“i can only wear t-shirts.
the loose kind for work.
it’s better because
you sweat a lot”
“i can’t, balasang. i can’t”
“you have to wear
a suit. goggles.
everything
is covered.
everything.”
“you can’t touch anything.
you have gloves. they will
get mad on you”
the praise
0111011101101000011110010000110100001010 my mother builds the backbone of the silicon valley you can say she’s single-handedly responsible for the microchip revolution my mother is a step ladder is a spine is a skeleton is a muscle is a labor force is vertebrae is a staircase is the key to a multi-millionaire’s business is a person. 0111011101101000011110010000110100001010 all hail the silicon valley may you all endlessly power up, aggregate the future, sip the coffee made by your interns, and allow me to ask sincerely, 0111011101101000011110010000110100001010 “why 0111011101101000011110010000110100001010 are 0111011101101000011110010000110100001010 you 0111011101101000011110010000110100001010 killing 0111011101101000011110010000110100001010 us 0111011101101000011110010000110100001010 this 0111011101101000011110010000110100001010 way? 0111011101101000011110010000110100001010 0111011101101000011110010000110100001010 0111011101101000011110010000110100001010 0111011101101000011110010000110100001010
the cry
the cry ma, tell them we go to church on sundays tell them spending christmas together is a tradition we need to start soon tell them about the blisters behind your ankles or the calluses that outline your step tell them about your queendom that you can’t preside over your people if you’re not home tell them buildings are a poor substitute for sunlight tell them about living paycheck-to-paycheck tell them about your arthritis tell them that i ripped your beltloops when i was six clawing onto you because i didn’t want you to go to work that day tell them about how starting your shift is a sentence and punching out your timesheet is freedom tell them you’re sick today that you’re sick of them every day that work is not a place without a place to sit that free snacks and more hours don’t fool you tell them that microchips don’t have feelings tell them about your garden and how soil reacts to water how you chip off thorns with uneven fingernails or how your orchids finally bloom yellow, pink and purple tell them they can’t automate your spirit tell them they can’t outsource your humanity tell them dignity is priceless tell them you miss the mid-day radio tell them you miss the price is right tell them that it’s confidential tell them some things are better left unsaid tell them machines performing over 1,000 chemical reactions are dangerous tell them they’re hazardous tell them what the doctors said how your knees creak how dad massages your feet every night tell them we don’t care about who they are since they do not know us tell them in ilokano tell them in tagalog or vietnamese or spanish or khmer tell all of your co-workers, my aunties tell them to say no tell them you say no tell them no you don’t want to you’re not going to work today you’re not going to work tell them that today the silicon valley resigns tell them you run the town tell them that they work for you. tell them 01101110 01101111 NO
Janice Lobo Sapigao is a Pinay poet, writer, and educator born and raised in San José, CA. Her first book microchips for millions is forthcoming from PAWA, Inc in Fall 2016. She is also the author of the forthcoming chapbook toxic city (tinder tender press, 2015). She earned her M.F.A. in Critical Studies/Writing at CalArts. She co-founded an open mic in Los Angeles called Sunday Jump. She lives in the Bay Area and teaches at Skyline College and San José City College. Please visit her website: janicewrites.com