Slave of Hopes
America sets me free,
I bend and left my dreams,
Each morning before the sun rises.
The room full of empty dreams,
The elders’ skin worn and beaten,
My skin is young and tanned,
My back is strong.
Each morning I see my dream,
Each morning I fill the bags with my hopes,
Each morning I fill the bag with my loyalty.
My back is weak,
My skin is worn,
My heart is broke.
Each morning I say:
America has set me free,
America has given me hope,
America has given me an empty bag to fill with their greed.
Tomatoes
My back bleeds with each tomato I pick,
My fingers are scarred,
My fingers have seen better days.
Hamburgers with tomatoes,
Are free for the fast food industry, as I bend in the mid-afternoon sun,
Men with guns,
Men with sticks,
Keep me in the fields.
Cheeseburgers with tomatoes on the side,
Men with guns,
Men with sticks,
Keep my family in the fields.
McDonalds’ Quarter Pounder with tomatoes,
Arby’s Roast Beef with tomatoes,
Wendy’s single with tomatoes…
Men with guns,
Men with sticks,
Hold me captured in the fields of tomatoes.
Quarter Pounder with cheese please and hold the tomatoes,
They are not free.
Poems by Michael “Fireeyes” Robinson