This is a work in progress, but I had to get it out before I lost what I was thinking about…

 

We Are Not All Mexican

 

Every day I see the men sitting

waiting

their eyes ever hopeful

search mine for cash resurrection

as my truck rolls on by

the empty lots in Suffern

 

At home the wives/girlfriends

seek out homes to clean

by word of mouth

their children

meet my children

in school

 

The women

desperate for a voice come to family planning

I hear stories of Guatemala, Ecuador, Mexico

El Salvador

children left behind

with mothers, grandmothers, and mother in laws

 

They gave up so much to come here

did they know it was going to be like this?

Is the $ worth the loss?

How would I even know?

People seeking to change their lives

and we judge over language-I mean color

 

We are ignorant

They are brave

They are ignorant

We are brave

 

Words that divide and judge

when we should really just understand

the human-ness in the experiences we all participate in.