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letra de luz (soledad) - mark abel

far from mexico, my husband rode
in the back of a truck, aching for work
and they brought him here, to the valley of salinas
rich soil, good rains, he heard the earth sing

the work was hard and dirty, and the pay pitiful
dollars a day
and in the evening, they slept on the ground
“aim my road on your bow of hope,” the poet said
so soon i had to come; i was always his inspiration
love overcomes struggle
we made our home in a place called soledad

poor but determined, we clung to family and faith
faith was a good thing to have then
on the ladder’s bottom rung
where the saddest songs are sung
prejudice and poverty, few rights or capital
the police were nasty, the landlords cruel
it took its toll on our people

some turned to drink, drugs and violence
— like my brother, umberto, buried in the cemetery in the hills
not far from the blue pacific and beautiful monterey
but they didn’t want us there, we with the rough hands
los olvidados — the invisible tillers of the fields, mowers of the lawns
at night confined to our barrios
we had to fight to belong here
powers that be intending to keep control
the growers thought they could crush us
we won respect by showing we would not back down
from our dignity
those were such bitter days

as the generations passed
calm descended on our dusty little town
one day my daughter brought a book from school
it told a sad story, “of mice and men.”
finally i understood why this place is called soledad

now all my children have flown;
there’s no work for them here
must the cycle roll along forever?
out to the pinnacles i will ride
where sacred rocks were moved by god’s hand
millenia ago

- mark abel

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