​To Work and to Eat and to Survive

A Tribute to Migrant Workers in a Place Called Madre Tierra

Francisco “Pancho” Bustos

A couple dollars a pound
and not a couple dollars a piece
don’t forget
 
Ay karnal
can’t you see how it can be
much easier to pay the tax
than to break the backs
 
How easier it is
to pick them shiny apples
from air conditioned racks
than to cough the blood
while carrying those
heavy, poisoned sacks
 
To Work and to Eat and to Survive
To Work and to Eat and to Survive
To Work and to Eat and to Survive
 
Corazones that won’t stop until
the little ones are fed
and they can hit the books
and they can learn and grow
 
That’s the dream,
can’t you see?
 
Porque somos familia
y porque tenemos el derecho to question
the word ‘i-legal’
free, también to question
and let go of
that fear of riding the bus the trolley and the car
 
A couple dollars a pound
and not a couple dollars a piece
don’t forget
 
No
right to vote
Yes
a right to break the backs
No
right to walk without fear
Yes
a right to sweat and serve and hide
 
But we come from the sun
el maíz y las yerbas
 
And we are free and incapable of seeing our
madres santas as ‘resident aliens’
 
And we are free to be proud of our mothers
for once showing us how to serve 99 cent kool aid
y quesadillas to our running brothers and sisters
flying through our parking lots
of old rented apartments
in a place called Sydro
 
Lifting themselves up
scratched up and all
from the concrete they met
when turning a corner
 
Cuz the runnin was too fast
and the runnin was too scary
and the runnin was much too much of a nightmare
 
And so I learned,
frozen, on that concrete stage before
my curious little eyes,
 
That a couple dollars a pound
over a couple dollars a piece
 
Isn’t just my super-sized
special treat,
but yours también
 
Don’t forget.