Labor?
Does it owe you a favor?
My grandfather in the fields,
Keeping the lands healed
Dreaming of a better tomorrow
But he is still filled with sorrow
He used his cortito to weed the plants,
Digging for hours upon hours,
14 hours a day
His back in pain
And still didn't complain
He worked like a Trojan
Never did they give him a promotion
He yearned for his family like The Odyssey,
Upon his arrival home,
My family filled with happiness
They praised him, for he was as strong as Hercules
This country should thank him,
For he was vital for food production
Never did he do destruction
What inspired me to write this poem was my grandfather, who came to the United States on a program called “the bracero program.” This program allowed Mexicans to come to the United States and work in agriculture. He was discriminated against, had an unfair wage, and had horrible working conditions. Additionally, I wanted to offer a dedication and honor the hard labor he endured during this time. My writing process was really easy; I knew exactly what to put into this poem, and I put all of my ideas together in order to create this poem. I decided to put the shifts where I did because I wanted to write about the work that my grandfather did for this country in the beginning and the praise my family gave him in Mexico because he worked hard and provided for his family regardless of how much he suffered. I put these allusions in because the allusions mentioning the Trojan and Hercules reference the strength my grandfather had, like these figures of the past. Next I mentioned “The Odyssey” due to the character Orestes yearning for his family and the character Telemachus' long journey to find his family. Lastly, I chose this figurative language because I wanted to highlight his emotions, strength, and time he spent in the United States. I structured my poem by separating each section by the events in which it happened. Next, the themes that I explored were grief, hard work, praise, pain, and gratitude. Lastly, I am a sophomore in high school who is first generation, and I will go to university to live my grandfather’s dream of us making a career so that we have an easy life.