A Trip to Washington D.C. (Part 2)

On Thursday, we listened to a great El Salvadorian poet and street performer who challenged us to be creative and to write whatever we felt like writing. During the seminar, we were given time to spread out and go wherever we'd like in the UM Building and write for about 10 minutes. We were told that we could write from the perspective of a child in the womb of an immigrant woman coming into the US, a day laborer, or an immigrant living in the US. I chose to write my poem from the perspective of a Mexican immigrant escaping to what has been promised to be a better life in the United States.

I Ran

I ran. As fast as I could run.
Some men and women in uniforms ran after me.
They shouted in a tongue I could not understand.
I ran.
Along the way I saw others, they were running with me.
A child, a father, a family. Running for their freedom.
“It will be better there” - that’s what they tell us.
“It won’t be so hard.”
“You won’t be so poor.”
I’ll finally be free.
I ran.
Then it happened.
The child fell.
Crying and hurt, bleeding where his knee hit the dusty, rocky ground.
He didn’t run anymore.
But I ran.
Something in my heart broke for him.
I wanted to stop but I knew I couldn’t.
I just ran.
The people in uniforms raced toward them,
Picking them up and dragging them back to that awful place.
But I just ran.
I couldn’t help it.
I couldn’t go back.
I couldn’t let them catch me.
So I ran.
I will never forget their faces.
We were friends, the other runners and I.
We were friends and I just ran.
We were brother and sister, but I just ran.
Now I work in the fields.
They pay me poorly - but it is enough to live.
They treat me badly, but I endure.
It is better than being back there.
I can eat.
I can live.
I can breathe, and I can run.
I can take care of my children.
My son, my daughter.
They can go to school.
Life is better for them here - they can run.
To this day I can’t forget - I won’t forget.
The face of that man and his son.
My friends.
I watched their tear stained faces as the border patrol led them away.
I could have tried to help.
And I just ran.

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