Ballad of Daniel Schultz and Shanti Sallz: Death by ICE
NO MORE DEATHS
ARRESTED FOR HELPING DYING MIGRANTS
POLICY OF DEATH BY ICE
Death by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
Thanks to NAFTA and to CAFTA Mexicans mourn
The devastating drop in the price of their corn.
Corn that has fed them and clothed them and which
Now sends a vulture
To eat out the heart of their ancient culture.
Cheap corn from the US and Canada
Flooding their markets and causing regrets
Because they cannot now pay their increasing debts
So they move to the cities
But the story’s the same
There’s no work here:
Go back where you came.
So in desperation the breadwinner pays
The coyote and starts into the desert dust and haze
In search of a job that will provide
The means for his family to survive.
But the Gran Desierto’s a very harsh land
Of heat, snakes, insects and roasting hot sand
And out in the desert Juan falters and falls
The coyote abandons him and leaves him to die
With buzzards circling way up in the sky
His throat is parched his energy flagging
No water to drink unable to turn
The hot sands below him are starting to burn.
And now half conscious and barely alive
There is no energy left– he will not survive.
And he’s found in the sun
Without any shade
As his precious life forces
Are beginning to fade
Yes Daniel and Shanti
Find him in extremis
And start the process
Of reviving this man
Who it must be said
Is nearly half dead.
.
At this very moment
The ICE-man enters
The scene of this crime
With his threatening firearm
Menacingly drawn
To stop these evil Do-Gooders
Who bear no one harm
So Daniel and Shanti
Arrested and handcuffed
Are into the back
Of an ICE van stuffed
Along with the evidence
Of their horrific crime:
Food, bottles, water
Now covered with grime.
For these criminal actions
So heinous is seems
Have seriously threatened
Now in my humble opinion
The system is wrong
And in the back of my mind so strong;
This thought I keep:
That were Jesus to see this
He surely would weep.
Howard P. Charman, M.D.
IDEA AMY GOODMAN 4-23-2007