In response to Carol Hammoy’s Exhibition, WCC , NY
Ragged bags
Hanging from history lines
Speaking little or no English
For their content
Came here
Found jobs
Lived lonely lives
In a different culture, climate
Land and law.
For freedom, food,
Shelter, life, or security
From deportation, death
War, hunger, or injustice
To prove their intelligence,
Presence, or skills
Attracted to the gleam of America
Immigrated here as I did.
this is so incredibly evocative of the immigrant experience from the lower east side tenements and even today where people still go to the rag trade as a point of entry. it is especially meaningful as my dad was a tailor and we were immigrants.
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