This poem was written by Philip Vera Cruz and published in the 1992 edition of PHILIP VERA CRUZ: A PERSONAL HISTORY OF FILIPINO IMMIGRANTS AND THE FARMWORKERS MOVEMENT by Craig Scharlin & Lilia V. Villanueva.
While still across the ocean
I heard about the U.S.A.
So thrilled by wild imagination
I left home through Manila Bay
Then on my way I thought and wondered
Alone what would the future be?
I gambled parental care and love
In search for human liberty.
But beautiful bright pictures painted
Were just half of the whole story…
Reflections of great wealth and power
In the land of slavery.
Minorities in shanty towns, slums…
Disgraceful spots for all to see
In the enviable Garden of Eden,
Land of affluence and poverty.
Since then I was a hungry stray dog,
Too busy to keep myself alive…
It seems equality and freedom
Will never be where billionaires thrive!
A lust for power causes oppression
To rob the poor in senseless greed;
The wealthy few’s excessive profits
Tend to enslave the world in need.
