from "Only Chiapas? (1995)", a poem by the author
I have seen the best minds of five generations destroyed by poverty
struggling naked moaning sobbing howling in despair . . .

Who dragged themselves through dusty streets at dawn searched for a
way to survive laborers for others . . .

Who sowed hoed cut harvested tended sheep cattle
horses goats burros on haciendas from age seven or eight . . .

Who after 16 years of civil strife . . .

Who then joined their urban cousins some to live on lonely brickyards
no electricity no fans no refrigerators no running water. . .

Some to invade unused lands to form squatter settlements
shanty towns colonias paracaidistas colonias perdidas
colonias populares to build shacks of tarpaulin scrapwood
cardboard crushed aluminum cans trashed by Budweiser and Cola Cola
drinkers to tap the holes against the rain . . .