Illegal
Location
February 5th 2009…6am
Daddy? Daddy where are you? Dad?!
The house moaned and whimpers echoed throughout the walls.
Something doesn’t feel right...Why is everyone awake?
Where’s my dad? Something’s off...
Mom? Mom where’s daddy? Why are you crying mommy?
My stomach dropped 100ft when she spoke
Sweetie, daddy doesn’t live here anymore. The police came
They pounded and smashed through the thick white front entrance
Shoved the kids behind walls with the doors locked against them
Imprisoning them in a bedroom as they stood guard
Posted on the other side of the creamy white walls
Arms crossed. Guns down.
The rest ran through the house searching
and trashing everything in their sight
I felt the hot flashlight rays through my eyes like a knife
as I lay in my bed wondering what this could all be about
Through mothers eyes I see 5 grown men in uniform
Asking where my father is
Mother insists he’s not home, and hopes they’re not real
They push her aside and force themselves through
Mother had no time to giving warning
Run! Run! She telepathically tried to signal
To her husband in distress
No use
The property was swarmed
Guards posted at every door. Cars parked on every street
they whizzed and they yelled until they found their dark prey
Then they pounced like wild lions and kicked against flesh as they took my father away
Threw him down hard on the floor with a gun to his head
Anchored him down with a steel toe boot to his back
Little bother, his son had been sleeping with his 4 year old arms wrapped around him
He held his skin tight as his little heart thumped
He slept and he snored with daddy on his side
And before he even knew it
Daddy was gone
The 5oh had come through like a tornado full of evil
They tore our family apart but I doubt they even cared
Dragged his body half naked across the floors to car, hands behind back
Clasped in handcuffs
Steel bracelets that meant his time here was up
Mother ran to find clothes to keep his body warm
Cops followed behind chanting words like a song
They’ve done this before. They enjoy this game
He’s not going to a party. Pick the clothes faster
They yelled
Mother runs to get money
He doesn’t need money where he’s headed
More stings from the cops
How was god supposed to know that marking his pigment down brown
Would make him a target
How was God supposed to know that dad being born outside the US would make him the enemy
And how were we supposed to know that the day we said goodnight would be the last time our eyes met his
Daddy had no record. He never killed anyone. He never robbed a liquor store. Daddy was a good guy.
So why is it that while I tossed and I turned wondering where my father was
The ones who made this happen could sleep happily at peace with their families
Under rooftops so giant
Sweetie, daddy’s on the phone
Dad? Where are you? Are you okay? Honey I’m going to be fine. Watch over your mother for me
You’ll be okay without me I love you. We’ll see each other again one day.
Tears erupted down my face burning a trail down my cheeks.
His voice carried an emotion I’d never heard before. Fear.
I’m going to be okay he repeated again and again. I’m going back home to Guatemala
But daddy you can’t go! This is your home!
And the line went dead. Along with my hopes. That was his only phone call.
In my dreams after that all my eyes saw
Was his body and face imprinted
A fugitive against law
His mug shot stood posted
In my mind for so long
Wanted posters hung loose
With daddies face
This is wrong
He was wanted by me but stolen by America
Those of us colored folk
We got it bad
Innocence is shattered because if you’re colored, you’re guilty
Daddy did nothing wrong, except not being born in the wrong country
10 plus years banishment? How is that even fair?
Daddy come back!
Daddy doesn’t have a choice
And we hope with hearts open and we pray with eyes closed
That deportation won’t strike another ones home
Why do our laws require us to scope out colors not white?
Daddy was a good man, Taken from home across nation
Put into jails across states, until he arrived back to his country
Isolated without hope to ever see his family again
Daddy I need you, when the stars don’t shine
Daddy I want you here, when mothers not home
Daddy where are you? When I feel so alone?
We’re under a different roof. But under the same moon
And for now I just pray
That one day I’ll know
A life when my father
Is legal for good