Para Dagoberto, Yuberkys, Doña Mercedes
And all of our madres y padres.[1]
Para mi pana, the OG pioneer Pedro Pietri[2]
Again in 2015 they came
and ain’t a goddamn thing changed.
Dominican Obituary
In a distant, warm land
they prayed
and prayed
and finally, they came.
They came.
They assimilated
into barrios donde se habla español[3]
because Hillary Clinton wants them asimilados[4]
as long as they don’t assimilate into her neighborhood.
And Trump wants them on the other side of a wall
Unless they are building his luxury condominiums.
They came.
They got lost on the N-train
They came.
Ashamed
to ask
”Ju ju spik tha englis o espanis?”[5]
They had to borrow a phone to call uptown
“Primo estoy perdido en _____
la casa del diablo”.[6]
They came.
to care
for other people’s children
as la esquina
y la calle[7]
raised theirs.
They came.
they were disgraced
when they arrived five minutes after eight
because the 2-train delivering the wage-slaves was late.
They came.
Danilo spent his birthday
in Quisqueya Telephone Agency on 153rd.
It was the third year in a row he bought a few six packs
& downed them solo swearing he was going back.[8]
They came.
In seven years, they never learned their neighbors’ names
afraid of crossing project hallways
and taking the elevator with strangers
They came
unable to escape.
They came.
For nine years they never complained
shuffled around by the employment agency.
They came
to slave
for $4.15 se fajan every day in factories.[9]
They came.
They worked four months straight
Without even a Sunday off.
Did anyone care if they needed a break?
After 11 years of cleaning up
after you and me.
They came.
Supervised by a routine
Franscisco
Lucresia
Felix
Eladia
Alfredo
y Mercedes
who spent the night of the millennium alone
speaking to fotos
of her husband and three hijos.[10]
They came.
They spent Christmas in an Uptown basement
gathered around the telephone
listening to the operator
”Lo sentimos
Todos los circuitos estan ocupados
Trate su llamada mas tarde Codetel.”[11]
They came.
They sang
the same hymns in la iglesia[12]
but every Sunday their Catholic voices grew fainter.
They came.
They brought their grandchildren with them everywhere
to every appointment
Nine-year old translators more experienced
than anyone working for the United Nations.
They came.
They waited
for a visa for mamá.
They waited
for a visa for papá.
They waited for residencia
They waited in the emergency room
from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.
but no doctor ever came.
They waited
and waited…
They waited on you.
They waited on me.
but we never asked
if their smile was real or fake.
They came.
They felt pain
because they couldn’t communicate
with their own sons and daughters.
They signed up for English classes
After eight hours on their feet
They came.
Drained
“E’ que esa vaina no me entra”[13]
They practiced with the mirror
but desesperanza was their only reflection[14]
Discouraging their noble efforts
“Dejese de esa vaina
maldita lengua pesá”[15]
They came.
Eternally afraid
that NYCHA would find out
that Roberto
the husband and father of two
was staying with them
in the apartment on Trinity Ave.
They came.
to save.
What a fantasy!
They came
They spent $100 a month on Boss Revolution phone cards
and sent the rest home to family.
They came.
and saved
so that they could one day have some place to call home
They saved a few thousand dollars over sixteen years
Where is the rest?
ask Con Edison
pregúntale a AT&T[16]
ask Metropolitan Transit Authority
or the owner of the bodega
ask Lincoln Hospital
but above all
ask the landlord.
They came.
and spent a night in jail
for “trespassing” in their own building
where they had lived for seventeen years.
They came.
They never decorated
they never got a Christmas tree
because they were never really here.
They came.
but their smiles remained
in the pores of the land
they refused to abandon.
They came.
Their parents disappeared
but they weren’t there
to deliver them to the next world
because the consul wouldn’t give them a visa to go back home.
They came.
They prayed
maybe Dios was too far away to hear.[17]
They came
and year after year
They swore next year they were returning.
They came.
to where they were misunderstood
Judged
Hated.
They came
but through all these years
they never changed.
They remained more humble and resilient than ever.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
They came
They prayed and they prayed
but aquí in this strange foreign land
they silently died away.[18]
Translations of the Spanglish terms:
[1] For all of our parents
[2] For my partner Pedro Pietri
[3] Into neighborhoods where Spanish is spoken
[4] Assimilated
[5] Mispronunciation of Do you speak English or Spanish?
[6] “Cousin: I am lost in _____, the middle of f’in nowhere!”
[7] The corner and the streets
[8] alone
[9] They work hard
[10] Children.
[11] Recorded message saying that all of the phone lines are busy and a call cannot be completed at this time.
[12] Church
[13] This English stuff I just can’t get it.
[14] hopelessness
[15] “Give it up. Your tongue is too heavy.”
[16] Ask
[17] God
[18] Here
