America, the Beautiful

From sea to shining sea.
It looked so amazingly neat and clean
Especially California
Lawns manicured
Every house in a model home
With no dust in sight
Hedges are cut to perfection
And gardens full of flowers
With no dead leaves all over the place
Roads escorted with flowers on both sides
On in the middle divider

To persons from a village with dirt roads
From India, or other third world countries
It is amazing,
It is revealing not to see filth
And dust decorating every place
Like back at home.

I wondered
How America is kept
So neat and clean
So well manicured
Like a show room
Like things in a picture book

Then I found them
I saw them working
Toiling all over the place I went
From gardens to new houses
From rich men's mansion
To the elementary schools
From hospitals in Houston
To universities in California

They work and work
Haul  trash
Plant flowers
Mow lawns
Put tiles on new houses
Men and women of color
Of a different food habit
Of a different accent
Of a different breed
Toiling under hot sun
and
In freezing winter
To send money home
So that a family can eat well.

These illegals
These sometimes despised
Often exploited
Make the America beautiful
Manicuring it day after day
From sea to shining sea.

((*.*))

March 2007