The Immigrant is Working

by Marlena Marduro Baraf

Born and raised in Panama, I arrived to the United States comfortably on a Braniff flight, when I was just 15

I studied and worked in the United States, raised a family, became a citizen. I chose you, Estados Unidos de America.

Now, living in the suburbs of New York, I find myself surrounded by the newest immigrants--and by the ones who came long before. They are said to be the most courageous, the ones who uprooted themselves from home in pursuit of a better chance at life.

I meet those who call themselves Dominicanos, Colombianos, Salvadorenos.... Spanish, the shared language of birth, a certain softness in dealing with others, bring us together. Here in this mosaic nation, in spite of vast individual differences, we begin to find a new identity and shared purpose.

America has always been home to immigrants from everywhere. Now, that all might change.

I've been interviewing immigrants of many nationalities over the past nine years about their experiences. , I've learned that immigrants are eager to work and are deeply loving of this nation.

My recent poem is "The immigrant is working” the story I know. (It was recently published in The Acentos Review.) I wrote the poem four months ago. We are already living a different reality. We are still processing what has not yet fully happened.

The immigrant is working

The immigrant is working
The immigrant is working
The immigrant is mopping
The immigrant is washing
The immigrant is busing
The immigrant is cooking
The immigrant is serving
The immigrant is sowing
The immigrant is pruning
The immigrant is learning English
The immigrant is hand-picking the fruit
The immigrant is drowning
The immigrant dismembers a turkey
The immigrant is raped
The immigrant is soothing your baby
The immigrant is lifting the old man
The immigrant is re-making the bed
The immigrant is sleeping in a van
The immigrant is hiding
The immigrant is painting a house
The immigrant is bused to another state
The immigrant is mopping
The immigrant is mopping
The immigrant's plane ticket is paid for
by the city he's leaving
The immigrant is working
The immigrant is working

Marlena Maduro Baraf roasts a turkey on Thanksgiving, raised her right hand with emotion when she pledged allegiance to the United States of America in a federal courtroom in downtown New York. Her essays and poems have been published in many literary publications. You can find her at breathinginspanish.substack.com.