Here and There

Notes from public school - day128

"And undocumented immigrants who desperately want to embrace those responsibilities see little option but to remain in the shadows, or risk their families being torn apart."

President Barack Obama, Address to the Nation on Immigration, November 20, 2014

I wrote this small piece in honor of all the students from Mexico, Central America and South America who walk through the door of my classroom and into my heart. 

They should never have to remain in the shadows, for they light are light. They should never be torn apart from their families, for they are beautiful.

Here and There

"I hope my new world will embrace me", he thinks tenderly, "And not call me an illegal alien...and not try to tear me apart from my Aunt...and not try to tear me apart...and not place me in the shadows...and not make me a shadow.

Mami, can you hear me in the dawn? Will my words reach you over the land, over the land, to the valley, between the mountains, to La Esperanza, to Honduras? Help me, Mami. Please. I don't want to be a shadow, here.

There, I was a human being. I walked beside you, Mami, my hand in yours, over the alfombras, the colored sawdust carpets on the streets, color, beauty, on Viernes Santo, Good Friday, and it was good because I was with you and with people who love me. And I sat beside you, Mami, your arm around me, under the midnight fireworks, after the late-night dinner, on Nochebuena, Christmas Eve, and the colors sparkled in your eyes, and in the colorful light, I loved you, and you loved me, and I was a human being.

Here, I might become a shadow, Mami. Is there no Good Friday on people's feet, is there no Christmas Eve in people's eyes? Are there only people, Mami, blocking the light, with angry faces and hateful words and violent hands, trying to make me a shadow? I am afraid, Mami. Help me. I am afraid of the dark. I don't want to be a shadow."