What happened to my country?

On Friday, it was announced in the local news that a group had put up two anti-immigrant billboard advertisements in Denver. The tone of the billboards was hateful and derogatory. It made me sick to my stomach. Who are these people? Why are they so filled with hate? Does the Statue of Liberty mean nothing to these folks? Maybe it's time to take it down. If they are so threatened by what these undocumented workers represent, why don't they attack the real cause: corporate greed and a thirst for cheap labor, and unfair trade agreements with the countries of origin? It makes me so angry that I have a hard time even talking about it.


Geronimo’s Ghost

Geronimo’s ghost
still prowls the southwest
where Mexican and U.S. soldiers
chased him for years

Hide and seek in stony heat
shadows among sheltering rocks
places he knew like
his own copper skin

Every landscape wrinkle
and hidden spring
only an Apache could know
he wore both equally well

Coyote paths now lead
where Geronimo once moved
shepherding poor campesinos
through hostile territory
to life in a new country

Serve the whims of rich Americans
work to feed their families
hide out like Apaches on the run
try not to be found

Geronimo’s ghost
watches and waits