Mami always said hard work will always beat out the rest
Mami always said keep your head down and stay quiet, no llames la atención
Don’t draw attention to yourself she said
Our silence is what we trade for our safety she said
Mami always said “la vida no es fácil” 
In between those lines, what she’s really saying is..
Life isn’t easy, life isn’t easy for US
For the..
Housekeeper
  Carpenter 
         Landscaper
Construction worker
   Farm worker
        Sanitation worker

It seems as if our bodies are only valuable when our labor is added to the equation 
It doesn’t matter if we did it the “right way”
It doesn’t matter if we washed away the accent in our children’s tongue to help them assimilate 
It doesn’t matter if we shorten our names, to make it easier for them to pronounce 
It doesn’t matter if you have your papeles strapped across your chest 
every moment you step outside
      because they will still see you as “OTHER”
An Alien
An Immigrant
A Criminal

Pero Mami always said, it doesn’t matter what they think, just follow the rules…
Keep your head down
Get the good grades
Go to college
Get that office job with the benefits
Stay out of trouble and no one will mess with you
But how do I tell mami that the rule book was burned in 2016?
Competency and common sense isn’t in style anymore
The exchange for an “American dream” that you speak of, comes at the expense of our bodies
What dream is it really, if I’m left with..
Callous-ridden hands,
Stressful sleepless nights,
No sick days,
No time off,
Leaving one wondering… when will mami know rest? When will our people know rest?
As if rest should only be known on our deathbed
And as Mami was about to say the next thing, I interrupted and said…
“No Mami it’s time to know rest.
acuéstate y cierra tus ojos.
I got it from here.”