Into the streets May First!
Alfred Hayes
Into the streets May First!
Into the roaring Square!
Shake the midtown towers!
Shatter the downtown air!
Come with a storm of banners,
Come with an earthquake tread,
Bells, hurl out of your belfries,
Red flag, leap out your red!
Out of the shops and factories,
Up with the sickle and hammer,
Comrades, these are our tools,
A song and a banner!
Roll song, from the sea of our hearts,
Banner, leap and be free;
Song and banner together,
Down with the bourgeoisie!
Sweep the big city, march forward,
The day is a barricade!
Pour forth like a second Flood!
Thunder the alps of the air!
Subways are roaring our milllons —
Comrades, into the square !!!
[Alfred Hayes, “Into the Streets May First”, May 1, 1934]