Let this flag of my homeland,
my Guatemalan coverlet
while I was here
in the corner
renting this space
beneath the Stars and Stripes
hanging on the wall
the flag I wanted
to call my own,
be my serape
as I board the bus,
head to my home,
to my wife,
to my five children
where I will hang
my head
in shame.

No work on the corner
no work by the store
no work today they said
only three days last month

I told my wife
I was going
to the land of opportunity
the land of freedom
the land of dreams.
I would send money
from afar
I would send
for them to come join
a throng of families
carving out new lives
with plenty of
food...shelter...clothing...health...

Instead....
I carve only this stick I held
while I waited for the man
to pick me up for work,
the work that never came...

I will carve
the rest of the stick
on the long, long way home
in shame.

© Sharon Warden January 30, 2009

Sharon Warden, retired social worker/school teacher (MI, IN, NY), now living in North East Florida, land of the "piney woods" immortalized by M. Rawlings in her book, "The Yearling”, has been writing poetry since she was a young girl.

She has compiled one book of her poems, "The Next Room", which is self-published, formatted and illustrated. Three more are in the offing.

Her passions are politics, the arts, the community and advocating for the disenfranchised/underdog.
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