day laborers

i used

to ask my day workers,

Francisco

and Alex,

if they'd like to become citizens

of the USA.

one was from Guatemala

and the other

from El Salvadore.

they were excellent workers,

honest

as the day is long.

they both had cars,

no insurance though,

or driver's license,

and carried in their back packs

all of their earthly

belongings.

so, i'd ask at the end of a long

day,

do you want to become

citizens.

make the pledge of allegiance

to the flag

and all that jazz.

they'd laugh and shake their

heads,

why, they'd say.

that would be a stupid thing

to do.

then we'd have to pay taxes,

register our cars,

get insurance, the government

would know who we are then,

where we live,

they'd know our names. no way.

the way it is now

everything is free

and we have enough money

to send home to our

families.

makes sense, i'd tell them.

see you next week, same time,

same place?