This poem comes from the book Latino Poetry: The Library of American Anthology by Rigoberto González (Ed.), p. 445
Madre America
Autor: Emanuel Xavier
If I were to give myself to you completely,
Would it matter that I didn’t come from your womb?
I have been thrown out of homes and abandoned by fathers
Looking for a place to settle and offer what little is left
of this spirit.
I speak your tongue and share the beds of your sons.
I would fight in your battles if considered man enough
for you
The dead eyes of innocent faces would not haunt
this empty soul
Would you be my motherland?
Would I be allowed to bathe in your oceans?
Without drowning in your oil spills?
Would you hold me when I die and grant me
a final resting place?
Madre, put down that newspaper and look at me closely,
I much resemble your first kin before you were raped
I have tasted your tears and washed myself in your sorrow
Madre, would you grant me sanctuary for my sin of living?
Of loving?
Your children do not want me to be part of your history.
Your daughters do not care to heal these wounds.
Madre, remind them that I have kept you strong
I have cleansed you, fed you, kept you warm.
You made me who I am today but still, unworthy
of their affection.
You were always full of love for all of us.
You raised us the same even when we took your splendor
for granted.
We may not have the same blood, but we are all connected.
I don’t want to lose this family.
This heart belongs to you.
America, you have been my mother and my father.
The autumn leaves are falling, and it is only summer.
Do not let them keep me from coming into your arms.
Do not let them imprison me with lies.
Do not let them kill me
for wanting to share in your devotion.
Remind them that our differences
is what makes this home more beautiful than any other.
I am nourished and wise because of you.
I look out the window and am not afraid of the wilderness
outside.
I only fear not finding my way back.
Madre, I want to stay here with the others to protect you.
I want to read your musings and hear your stories.
I want to stare out at your skies at night
and lay on your lands.
Madre, I know it is not you but they that are jealous of our
bond.
Madre, educate us all to understand more than one
language.
I want to write poetry to someday teach in your schools
Peace belongs to all of us because of you, madre
America, I will always be your child.
