WEBVTT

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A lot of my poetry works with
irony in my previous work

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anyway.

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And I could not
resist the opportunity

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to write a poem in that mode.

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When I started
learning about the ways

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that prisons are being
capitalized upon to make money

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for corporations that can
charge for phones, and computer

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access, and various
things, and then

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also can make money on the
labor of people incarcerated.

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There was a
particular moment when

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I discovered that Victoria's
Secret had used prison labor

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to create some of its products.

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And learned about a
company a government owned

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agency called--
now called UNICOR

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that basically facilitates the
supply of incarcerated laborers

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to industries that need workers.

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So this poem is a two-parter.

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It's called "Capitalism's Secret
or Victoria and The UNICOR."

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[LAUGHTER]

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And there are two
voices, and you'll--

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hopefully, you'll be able to
follow the extended metaphor

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in part 1 and the snarky voice
that I'm using in part 2.

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"Capitalism's Secret or
Victoria in The UNICOR."

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Part 1, A bra binds,
holds the body in place.

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People put you in a bra by
shaming you or giving you glam.

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It's a sign of
adulthood, but teens get

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caught up in them all the time.

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It becomes a uniform
taken for granted.

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The hooks and wires decked
out in satin and lace,

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the bra itself out of sight.

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In professional, religious,
and otherwise formal settings,

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we might see a flash of color.

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Just a reminder, the bra
is there doing its job.

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A bra is a structure that
controls what it contains.

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It hides and is hidden,
covers and is covert.

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It's costly.

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Some folks look up and
realize they've spent most

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of their life inside a bra.

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But it's not for everyone.

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Part 2.

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The secret's out.

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Those jobs shop overseas to be
done for cheap can repatriate.

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Locate your call center in
the US of A's finest prisons,

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so you can go native speakers.

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Why put rupees in the saffron
scented pockets of strangers?

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American Express wants
to go there, maybe.

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But you could do your business
in a home away from home right

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here in American soil.

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The dirt is, we know what it
takes to make a buck work.

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Cut down on the
commute, set up shop

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at any one of our nationwide
facilities convenient for you.

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