Too Many Came

They came
asking only for a chance,
a chance at freedom from poverty,
freedom from corruption,
freedom from their state-owned lives

They came
any way they could
On foot or packed in vans
in the dead of night
in the hell-like desert heat

They came
to be productive
and send ‘dollars’ home
to provide food and few luxuries
to those who could not come

But too many came
language became a barrier
resources became drained
laws were broken and ignored
Those who came, became fugitives

What was to be
the ‘land of opportunity’
became a land of fear
Not because they came,
— because too many came