This is a very special poem that touches on the transient nature of migration. This experience is true for Africans as is for Asians. What is your immigration experience? Share it with us.

 

Always on the Move

 

Always on the move

We tear away our roots

And never take root

At our final destinations

Why?

 

For one thing

Family is still back home

Barely getting by

They count on me

For their meals

And college fees

 

I want to take time

Explore my new home

But how can this be home?

I work twice full-time

Can’t muster up the energy

Or enough dollar bills

For any fun at all

 

Always be on the move

We tear away our roots

Not even knowing them

Strangers in our mother country

 

Here in my new city

I see thin, beautiful buildings

Not even knowing them

Strangers in our mother country

 

Here in my new city

I see thin, beautiful buildings

Elegant art galleries

Museums filled with fascinating facts

Can you believe

They even capture pre-colonial history?

 

Makes me glum to think

That my motherland

Fails to preserve its own story

Always being on the move

Seems reason enough not to look back

Ask any Filipino

And almost all will mention

The coming of the Spanish

From Europe to the Islands

As the part where the Philippine story starts

 

Always on the move

Now our people can be found

All around the world

But do we know about

Filipino history in the state of Hawaii?

The ones who laboured in sugar plantations,

Or picked fruit during the Dirty Thirties

What about our history in the Middle East?

We’ve been there since the 1970s!

What about Filipino history in Canada?

Here, our population keeps doubling

And we keep travelling

Physically, we may be visible

But our stories- they remain invisible

We are colorful chameleons

Just trying to blend in

 

Always on the move

Tearing our roots

But never taking root

At our final destinations

 

 

Poem by Kristina de Guzman