Guest Artists: Maria Sudduth & Bess Rodriguez Richard

Bess Rodriguez Richard © 2005


Maria Sudduth wrote the following poem. She said,

"What triggered it was the ugliness I was seeing in the passing of the House bill to make undocumented workers and those that help them felons. Then the hypocritical fall-out I read in the papers and saw on the news. I've worked with primarily the hispanic population, documented and undocumented. None of what I see portrayed in the media represent the hard-working, family oriented people I know."


Mi Patria

I work in the fields
Hot dry thirsty
Harvesting the food
That finds your table

I travel by night
Cold wet hungry
Dancing the shadows
Where you have sent me

I sing to my children
They hardly know me
I wish for my children
You will not let me

I tend to your babies
Clean up your messes
Tidy your garden
Provide for your comfort

You call me illegal
Say that I’m dirty
Brand me a felon
And all those who help me

I long for the light
To shine down upon me
I long for the freedom
That you won’t allow me

You mandate “Speak English”
I answer in Spanish
The tongue of my mother
And all those before me

I’ve been here forever
I’ll be here in future
You fear that, you know that
We can’t fight forever

Bilingual, bicultural
The flags, I fly both
I embrace both countries
Understand who I am.


Maria Sudduth, 2006

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