Author’s Note:
I wrote this poem in 2018, when I was just fourteen. At the time, stories of immigrant families being separated at the U.S. border were dominating the news. I was confused, and heartbroken by what I was seeing. I didn’t know how to change the world, but I knew I had something to say.
Looking back now, I’m taken aback by how relevant these themes still are: displacement, apathy, and the strength of family in the face of cruelty.
It’s not perfect. I’m sharing it now not just as a piece of writing, but as a reminder to myself that even young voices carry power.
Bella’s Song
A pair named Augusto and Heloisa,
emigrated out of Brasilia,
Their dream of many opportunities,
to send money to their community.
The Couple is led to Sao Paulo,
Then deep throughout the heart of Mexico.
ahead they cross the Rio Grande River,
Wanting to quit they pushed more than ever.
They had soon arrived where their dreams come true
The come to a farm where the cows say moo
Year after year they worked in the tall fields,
sending money back to hometown, Brazil.
The lovely home with the white picket fence.
Their hope for a bright future became dense.
Bella their bright and beautiful daughter,
sixteen years old her life just got harder.
On Bella’s sixteenth birthday she came home,
waiting for her parents she was alone.
How could Bella’s house be such a great mess?
Fear took over as she started to stress.
shaking Bella couldn’t hold back her tears,
Will she see her parents, would it be years?
Her photos were her only possession,
Some justice was her only obsession.
A stable loving home is now shaken,
A young girls innocence had been taken.
What did either of her parents do wrong,
Born on the other side, they don’t belong?
Bella shuts her eyes and starts to wonder,
her life’s been struck by lighting and thunder.
Bella’s parents were captured and taken,
Everything they work for been forsaken.
Bella is hoping this is a bad dream,
confused not knowing what is next it seems.
A knock on the door, her heart starts to pound.
Bella’s scared and begins to look around.
Bella, ready to run where will she go?
No money, family she’s at her low.
She puts her head down and walks to the door,
not quite sure what life has for her in store.
Her Parents are cold, sitting in a cell,
the food is disgusting and even the smell.
Augusto has always been very strong,
thinking of Bella, starts singing her song.
Tears start to drip form Augusto eyes,
Augusto can’t hold back he starts to cry.
Augusto sobs tells his wife “I’m to blame,
everything we worked for has been in vain.”
He believed in the American dream,
Filled with suffering, he begins to scream.
Heloisa is holding Augusto tight,
telling her husband it will be alright.
She does not believe a word she saying,
she shuts her eyes continuing praying.
Where is Bella, beautiful and alone,
as she ate dinner she is safe at home.
Bella still hungry, so she wanted more
she feared for who would knock at her house door
At night, her eyes felt heavy like lumber
so she fell into a hefty slumber.
The next morning Bella is woken up,
to a knock on the door that makes her jump
Bella opens the door a woman is there,
she says I’m taking you to foster care.
Bella just stands there very much confused,
this lady being aggressive and rude.
Bella questions “will I see my parents”,
“Not if they’re some illegal immigrants”.
The lady says in an abrupt manner
Bella was definitely not flattered
As Bella takes an awkward silent ride,
She imagines a safe place she can hide.
Bella is being placed in a new home,
even with many kids she feels alone.
Bella feels as if she doesn’t belong,
she thinks of her father and sings his song.
Heloisa is shivering from the cold,
staring at her husband he looks so old.
Augusto is carrying lots of shame,
putting his family through so much pain.
through tossing and turning the morning came,
he spoke to a lawyer who played the game.
Relax and sit here a year in a cell,
you can fight your case but you won’t prevail.
Heloisa is now in a cell alone,
their life that was once set is now unknown.
How can humans be treated as a fish,
taken from the sea to be abolished.
Augusto is thinking of his daughter,
he wants to breathe he feels under water.
The couple is going back to Brazil,
was once the perfect life, now unreal.
Years past Bella has never been the same,
her now new low-self worth has been ingrained.
Bella lives in a new house every week,
odds of a better life have become bleak.
Imagine away from your own mother,
imagine someone taking your brother.
Imagine watching families suffer,
because someone wants to make it tougher.
We can spend thirteen years to build a ship,
Yet seconds will break up relationships.
Why do some people extract from the weak,
In this case, the family who can’t speak.
Now she has a family of her own,
her kids only know Grandparents by phone.