And not a moment too soon! Here is my entry for the Write Stuff poetry contest...
Don't forget to vote!
"Modern Immigrant"
Early in the morning as the sun barely crests the horizon,
Weathered brown smiles work unaffected.
Hands saw, pound, lift, push, mix, pour, lay, pull, smooth.
Muscles purpose gilded cathedrals of wood stucco and stone for kings of suburbia.
At lunch, Maria's Taco Truck arrives; thick aching fingers
Gather quarters, dimes, nickels for tamales and albondigas.
When the sun begins to set, tools are gathered and cleaned.
Ten or twelve bodies pile into cabs and beds of weathered work trucks.
At the Shady Hallow Trailer park, a shared five hundred square feet
Affords a stove, a toilet, and a few cozy rooms
Lined with homemade double and triple bunks.
Before the sun rises again, fathers and sons call home, south of the border;
Money is sent to wives, mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters
For warm meals, a blanket, a roof of stone or plaster to stave off the cold.
Why so hostile, America?
Why turn away those who will do what you will not do?
If they go, who will fashion your houses, tend your lawns, clean your toilets?
Whose hands will harvest your strawberries, peaches, apples?
Instead of appreciation and compassion, you offer bitter contempt
And a barricade.
Is this a new Cold War? Will we also erect a cruel and brutal wall?
2 weeks ago
5 comments:
Of course I like both the message and the poem. I'm still voting for myself, though. :-)
Peter - you slay me! Thanks for the props. I know you speak truth, so am especially glad you appreciate the message of the poem.
Had I *realized* that getting my readers to vote for my poem factored into the poem decision (which I seriously did not realize until I submitted and saw the directive), I probably wouldn't have entered the contest, lol! Of course - your poem is fantastic and does deserve a proper vote.
Aaah, I figure I won't win because I won't be out beating the bushes for votes (that's a small B in "bushes" by the way, just to be clear), but I just like participating anyway.
It's like those photo "contests" some blogs run every once in a while. The winner always baffles me, but they win by a landslide. The photos are usually not funny (if it's a humorous contest), not artsy (if it's an artsy-fartsy contest), or not... whatever they're supposed to be, particularly interesting.
Anyway. This is your soapbox here, and I didn't mean to step up on it. Sorry.
Say, I just put up my light verse for the week. I'm trying to do one a week in 2008. Here's the link. I'd be honored if you'd take a look.
Hey, you're beating me with 3% of the vote, and I have 2%. This must be how Dennis Kucinich and Joe Biden feel when they get together for beers.
BOL - but the loss does make me wish we could sit and chat over beers...
ahh, vanity. at times such as these, she reminds me not to take myself so seriously
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