Guanajuato

I was raised in Guanajuato
That’s where I was born
For a thousand years that’s where
My family grew the corn
Farming’s what we lived by
And farming’s all we knew
Then the government signed NAFTA
And our farming days were through
I had to leave the village
There was no other way
I had to find work somewhere
Or starve if i should stay
In Ciudad de Mexico
I tried to survive
But the colonias were full
And there was no work to stay alive
I went to Tijuana
The maquila factories
Saw people living by the sewage
Dying on their knees
It was then in desperation
I knew I had to go
Leave the country I was born in
The only one I know
Cross the unknown deserts
To the other side
Around the wall that stretches on
A hundred miles wide
I trudged on for days
Don’t know how far I got
But I never knew in all my life
The sun could be so hot
My feet had turned to blisters
My water bag run dry
I thought about mi madrecita
As I looked up at the sky
I lay down for the last time
Parched upon the ground
Maybe someday
My body will be found
Eaten by the vultures
Bones bleached in the sun
Maybe I’ll go to heaven
If there is one
And I guess someone in California
Who wants to make their fields green
Is gonna have to find another Mexican
To keep their dishes clean