FortyFIVE
Location
Before I was three
My mother brought me
To the land of the free
Where dreams grow on trees
And money trails lay at your feet
So you’re never hungry.
At least that’s what you believe
When your homeland
Offers you a 5 y.o beggar hugging
Your knees at dinnertime.
So let me ask you something
What is the USA?
Its being able to trace my ancestors
Back to the slaveships,
Its having to always have a strong grip
On mommys skirt when a cop walks by
Because I don’t know if he’ll grab her too.
Playing this tug of war with fear
And strength, because I should be strong for them
But then who will be strong for me?
It’s having a life script in my
Back pocket ready to embrace my starring
Role of lies when I’m asked why I don’t have a state ID
Or why I’m at a community school with Ivy Leaguecredentials.
The USAis a slander
Of all you people take our jobs, and
Your mother is a maid, on my back when I walk
Down the block.
NYC is deporting 45 people an hour
That’s:
45 pairs of eyes that won’t see a child grow into anadolescent
45 pairs of arms that won’t hug a brother or sister,
45 pairs of hands that won’t caress their daughters or helppick out a wedding dress.
These 9 digits wrap around my eyes
So everytime I blink I see
Opportunity walkingopposite of me,
Running away from my alien thoughts
Because apparently my mothers womb held me
On another planet.
I am not Ellis Island,
I am not Wall St,
I am more than social security
And you can not make me a statistic.
Your tongue and your guns creates borders,
Give Mexicotheir land back, give AZ their classes
And ill give you respect.
I’m lost in translation
And im not speaking language
I’m saying homeland security is the Matrix
And reforming is NEO.
Keeping families together is essential
Like breathing,
Humanity is the heartbeat of civilization but it’s beenirregular,
And ignorance walks hand in hand with ICE,
And this community walks hand in hand with hope.
We chain arms in solidarity for the family members you
Tear apart and ship away like cattle,
We chain arms because we are the 45 people
That you deem less important.
We are not Ellis Island.
We are not Wall St
We are more than Social Security,
And you can not make US statistics.