“Who are you?”
You are shouting.
“Who are you?”
I am
Sweat on desert floors
And skyscraper beams.
I am
Crossing walls
And building them up.
I am
Pulling on packs
And pulling up crops.
Dreaming freedom.
I have bled for this
Been broken
And kept right on.
You keep saying
We take lives
We take jobs
Take our time
But I see you,
Arms out
Begging us to come
No joke.
And as I’m working
The floor
Pushing the broom
Scrubbing out shit
Cooking meals
Quiet
You’re happy.
Just not for long.
The fist is never far behind.
The gun is always loaded.
There’s an eagle on a
Chain link fence
On a camp
Not far from here
And it says to me and them
And everyone, I only know this:
We never gave up
To be there,
And to be here.
To be there,
And to be here,
We gave up
Everything.