BIO
Jose Chavez is an author-educator raised in Venice, CA, attended college in UC Berkeley, and received MA in ESL at Cal St. San Bernardino. His poetry has been published in the Multilingual Educator Journal and Inlandia Anthology. His first bilingual children's poetry book: Estrellitas y Nopales-Little Stars and Cactus, won three awards from the International Latino Book Awards in 2017. He lives in Moreno Valley, CA.
facebook.com/JoseChavezAuthor
Building This Wall
“Quisieron enterrarnos, pero no sabían que éramos semillas.” —Mexican Proverb
I.
Let’s build it from Brownsville, Texas,
to Rosarito, Baja
California, north to Seattle, east to
Bangor Maine
cut down the California redwoods, shape
them into spikes,
dig them deep, and let their tops reach
the mountains
use pig iron stakes from Pennsylvania,
add twisted
steel, and broken ideologies to make it
strong and durable
frame it with knotty pine, straw, and
sand, dry wall it,
which works well, unless there’s an
earthquake
use cinder blocks, mortar, and bags of
oranges for sale,
reinforce it, and seal it with
immigrant sweat and blood
slap on tariff & trade agreements
disguised as graffiti
add red baseball caps shouting promises
about something great
let Woody Guthrie sing about the length
of this wall,
& Maya Angelou write about the real
meaning of freedom
let Diego Rivera create vivid murals in
nearby chapels
where frightened refugees search for
dignity & sanctuary
let César Chavez, & the United Farm
Workers
march around the wall seven times until
it crumbles.
II.
Give the wall eyes to see a family
shatter when a father
disappears after buying milk and never
returns
give the wall ears to hear soft words
in a meeting
of a mother and child separated by
political policy in Tijuana
give the wall touch to feel warmth pass
through slits
in that fence where fingers embrace and
hearts connect
give the wall compassion, a moment of
silence
for a young boy who left loved ones alone,
to escape
gang violence far away, crossing
scorched deserts
only to perish with a backpack full of
hopes
give the wall a heart for all children
to find empowerment
& equity in education, so dreams
and reality touch the sky
give the wall the breath of peace and
opportunity for those
who’ve crossed & become threads in
our daily lives
give the wall wings so that it can rise
on thermals to meet
the rising sun past factories, farms,
and fields where labor
endless labor provides the necessities
of life: potatoes,
onions, avocados, tomatoes &
lettuce for our hamburgers
let it rise to the jet stream to
broadcast a reply to the struggle
of dreamers amid the sound of pounding,
marching feet
let clouds turn justice into rain that
drowns out
cries of
desesperación, pobreza, y hambre stretching
from the San Joaquin Valley, to Miami
shores, to New
York City amid rich towers, & a
shimmering skyline
this wall, this wall was built for you & me.