“Pentimento”-Magdalena Magazine
Read more: “Pentimento”-Magdalena MagazineI am honored to be included in Michelle Magdalena’s Magazine, Magdalena which features my poems, “The Swallows of America,” and “Pentimento.”
The poems are really a plea. We can and must keep trying to reason with the unreasonable. The stakes are high and we must persist: there is good worth fighting for, to paraphrase Samwise. My poem, “Pentimento“, is a prayer, an opening, a conversation.
Please buy Magdalena Magazine to read both poems, but here’s a snippet:
from “Pentimento”
The dream is a slow
undulation of waves
Humpbacks ride as they migrate
to plastic islands
She beads a necklace
of dead minnows
When her son
is taken away
A torrent of orders
floods the banks
Tears the child
from the only country
he’s ever known–
his mother’s arms
Like meat
from a bone…(con’t)
*These poems are also included in my chapbook, The Swallows of America, published by Dancing Girl Press.
Powerful poem Maria. It really does give someone an outside view living in a different country.
I’m leaving my own country
To grab a good opportunity
To have a financial stability
And debt-free members of the family
Mostly is good for my life, and family.
I’m leaving my own country
To enhance my work ability
Step into the next level of maturity
To enter the world of independ-ability
I’m leaving my own country
To let go and move on totally
So I can learn other culture and new more people
I’m leaving my country im learning new
Poem:
Home is where I go when I’m sad
Home is where I go when I’m mad
Home is supposed to be the place where I feel safe
It used to feel like that
Not so much now
Home becomes hollow
Nothing but a mere hole
Nothing but a reminder of what used to be whole
Parents and siblings
Separated
I used to be glad
Home, a place that once felt safe
In a new land, far from home,
We search for a place where we belong.
Faces change, the language too,
Yet hope and dreams guide us through.
We find our way in simple things,
In warm smiles and the joy they bring.
Slowly, this new land feels like ours,
A place of peace, where hope empowers.
Each day brings a new sunrise,
In this new world, we find our skies.
Step by step, our hearts align,
And here, at last, we call it mine.
My parents were also immigrants to this country and came for the same reason mentioned in your poem—a better world for themselves and their families. These are impactful words, and they have inspired me to write about this issue itself. At some point in history most of our ancestors decided to migrate for this very reason. It is not my choice to make if they have the right to do so or not, but we do elect our leaders with the hope that they will uphold values and fair morals. These families should not have been separated. What happened will go down in history and they will be the judge for our morals as a nation.
Lost but never found
Home, but never home
Surrounded by people, friends? Foe?
Full bellies, laughter, and peace
Breaking free with feelings unbound
Dreams that I have been after
But the more I look around
The more these dreams come to cease.
This everlasting reality
One full of brutality
Is this all I’ll ever know?
I hope this isn’t so
But for some, we will never know.
My grandparents migrated during WWII after parts of Germany became Polish territory. They had to flee since their homes did no longer belong to them. The choices were: run away and leave everything behind or become war prisoners of Poland’s army. Hearing about the pain and suffering all of them had to go through to get to Germany is heartbreaking, but imagining the horrific things mentioned in the poem that people have to experience while looking for a better future for their families is truly mortifying and frightening to be completely honest.
The aftermath of war is an aspect I’ve considered to be a delicate time because it varies for people. There are even side effects from going into war such as PTSD, so although the war is over, the soldiers who experienced trauma in wars can’t really get away from it. Some families and friends are fortunate and rejoice in a relative or friend returning, and all is well; however, there are those who can’t reciprocate the feelings of happiness because some soldiers don’t come back. All the feelings and expectations from relatives for the soldiers turn into an aching pain, and it aches and aches and stays there. Some can move forward while others cannot.
A mother’s love, torn apart,
By orders cruel, aching heart.
Dead minnows strung, a necklace sad,
Loss and pain, displacement’s bad.
We raise our voice, against the wrong,
Food, gender, woes prolonged.
In comments’ realm, we’ll make it known,
End the pain, love’s seeds be sown.
After reading the poem “Pentimento” I was immediately reminded me of the song “La Juala De Oro” by Los Tigres Del Norte. Both the poem and song talk about similar situations, immigrating to a new country in hopes of a better world for themselves and their families. Although there is some relief upon arrival to a new country, there is still fear of being separated from family. That fear can ultimately consume one; all one can do is hope that that nightmare will never become reality.
Coming from parents wanting to come to the United States for a better change for their families, to work and get the money they need to help themselves and their family as well, having the need to do that by crossing the border, that can come with consequences. Crossing the border can have a negative impact on those who cross the border such as it being dangerous, one can go missing, people die, people crossing get lost, some run out of water or food, this all affects those people and their families. Families who decide to cross the border and dealing with these effects is the issue, families dying, starving in hot weather conditions, who go missing all because they want a change to help themselves and their families.
After reading the poem I was immediately taken to the mother aspect because of my own mother and how she was scared for my older brother when he wanted to join the army right just barely graduating from high school it instilled fear in me as well and worry about what he would have to do and where he would be or they would send him. War causes not only just one person but families and others close to sometimes suffer through hardships and instills fear into them not only if it’s their child, their loved one, or someone they know, and what’s going to happen to them out there when they have no control over some things at times and what they have to fight for.
Haiku: Emotional Chaos
So many traumas;
Where do I even begin?
And how do I heal?
I should be angry,
at the level of betrayal.
Instead, I feel pain.
Sometimes it is intense,
Other times I feel nothing at all.
Searching for balance.
I’m uncomfortable;
Sitting with my emotions.
I’m trying to learn.
I found this poem to be very impactful and powerful. It is definitely an eyeopener. It reminded me a lot about my grandparents coming to the US for a better life for themselves and their children. It was overall a great poem that I found to be touching.
This poem breaks my heart, especially knowing that my own family shared the same dreams as yours. They came to this country to relive their American Dream, yet it wasn’t obtainable as they thought it would be. They’ve faced many hardships to claim their right as ‘american’ instead of being proud of their own nationality, so much so they taught their own family English instead of bisaya. Though this isn’t anything severe, I feel like this generation has carried burdens of fulfilling their families’ ideals of being successful– and how unmotivated they are to continue this ‘dream.’
This is the correction:
Kids in town of war/
Dreams form without shelter/
Taken from the warmth/
Haiku: Why must we the people suffer?
Nations and its politicians are scuffling
While people are suffering
Are we really in their best interest?
Or are they only focused in their self-interests?
Inspired by Marvin Gaye’s “What’s going on”
Reading this poem gave me a very different perspective as I have always lived in America and so has my immediate family, so I had no real connection to my ancestors crossing the border in order for me and my family to live a better life. While reading this poem I realized just how lucky I am to have never face hardships such as this and how grateful I am for my ancestors for assimilating my family so well into this new country that they lived in that we don’t have any problems when it comes to immigration
I can also relate to your poem. My parents were also immigrants to this country for the same reason you stated in this poem. They came here for a better world for themselves and for their children. I have now realized how luck I am to never have had to face this issue.
In war’s cruel grasp, homes fall to dust,
Children wander, trust turned to rust.
Food scarce, hope fades, hearts heavy with grief,
Policies leave scars, beyond belief.
Gendered violence, a silent scream,
Collateral damage, shattering dreams.
Displacement’s toll, a haunting cry,
Innocence lost, beneath the sky
I relate to your poem due to the fact that my parent migrated from Mexico way before I was before. It makes me realize how much they sacrificed to come to the United States to chase the American Dream. I feel lucky to be be born here and thankful that made many scarifies to give me and my siblings a better life then the one they had growing up.
This poem is impactful and holds a powerful message in a few words. Each stanza paints a vivid picture and helps me understand and sympathize with the issue of separation and displacement. It is unfortunate that war leads to situations like these. Innocent people have to endure these struggles and these struggles linger with them for generations.
I stand in the space between,
Where roots struggle in foreign soil.
First generation, a bridge
Between the past and the unknown.
Mother’s hands, weary with dreams,
Father’s eyes, shadows of hope.
Illegal, they say, as if love
Could be bound by borders.
Their whispers of home echo
In my heart, a song of longing.
I carry their sacrifices,
Each step a testament to courage.
In this land of promise and fear,
Their stories into my future,
Displacement of children, food insecurity, gender based violence In all these cases, the collateral damage of policies show the importance of considering the broader and long-term impacts of policy decisions.