Thank you Heather Cox Richardson and Buddy Poland for the clarity and beauty you share with us
To the poets, the caring, the undocumented and to all who are listening.
poem where no one is deported
José Olivarez
now i like to imagine la migra running
into the sock factory where my mom
& her friends worked. it was all women
who worked there. women who braided
each other’s hair during breaks.
women who wore rosaries, & never
had a hair out of place. women who were ready
for cameras or for God, who ended all their sentences
with si dios quiere. as in: the day before
the immigration raid when the rumor
of a raid was passed around like bread
& the women made plans, si dios quiere.
so when the immigration officers arrived
they found boxes of socks & all the women absent.
safe at home. those officers thought
no one was working. they were wrong.
the women would say it was god working.
& it was god, but the god
my mom taught us to fear
was vengeful. he might have wet his thumb
& wiped la migra out of this world like a smudge
on a mirror. this god was the god that woke me up
at 7am every day for school to let me know
there was food in the fridge for me & my brothers.
i never asked my mom where the food came from,
but she told me anyway: gracias a dios.
gracias a dios del chisme, who heard all la migra’s plans
& whispered them into the right ears
to keep our families safe.
About This Poem
“My parents were undocumented when they moved to the United States. I wrote this poem hoping to honor the power of the undocumented women in my family and in my community. They knew everything. I'm in awe of them.”
Gracias, José for these beautiful words sharing the depth of love and grit that make your mother and her "sisters" a heartfelt presence right here, right now. I'm grateful...
Hello, Fern. Thank you for liking my online ID which is also my website ID, gildedtwig.com. Women are the backbone of this country - documented AND undocumented. Recognition, equity, and political power are overdue.
Thank you Heather Cox Richardson and Buddy Poland for the clarity and beauty you share with us
To the poets, the caring, the undocumented and to all who are listening.
poem where no one is deported
José Olivarez
now i like to imagine la migra running
into the sock factory where my mom
& her friends worked. it was all women
who worked there. women who braided
each other’s hair during breaks.
women who wore rosaries, & never
had a hair out of place. women who were ready
for cameras or for God, who ended all their sentences
with si dios quiere. as in: the day before
the immigration raid when the rumor
of a raid was passed around like bread
& the women made plans, si dios quiere.
so when the immigration officers arrived
they found boxes of socks & all the women absent.
safe at home. those officers thought
no one was working. they were wrong.
the women would say it was god working.
& it was god, but the god
my mom taught us to fear
was vengeful. he might have wet his thumb
& wiped la migra out of this world like a smudge
on a mirror. this god was the god that woke me up
at 7am every day for school to let me know
there was food in the fridge for me & my brothers.
i never asked my mom where the food came from,
but she told me anyway: gracias a dios.
gracias a dios del chisme, who heard all la migra’s plans
& whispered them into the right ears
to keep our families safe.
About This Poem
“My parents were undocumented when they moved to the United States. I wrote this poem hoping to honor the power of the undocumented women in my family and in my community. They knew everything. I'm in awe of them.”
—José Olivarez
Gracias, José for these beautiful words sharing the depth of love and grit that make your mother and her "sisters" a heartfelt presence right here, right now. I'm grateful...
Gracias por el poema ❤️🤍💙
Thank you for reading this poem, gildertwig, which honors the lives, the caring, the work and the power of undocumented women.
Hello, Fern. Thank you for liking my online ID which is also my website ID, gildedtwig.com. Women are the backbone of this country - documented AND undocumented. Recognition, equity, and political power are overdue.
Thank you for sharing this loving tribute to his caring immigrant parents.