REMITTANCES

It’s a thrill at first –

All is new and strange –

And everyone is friendly

But you can’t yet see the stains.

Then novelty becomes routine

And most people lose interest.

You have to make real friends –

Ones who realize the distance.

And all your resolve

Begins to break down.

It fails completely

When you see a child frown.

The voices from home

Insist that they miss you;

And you must believe it,

Yearning for them to kiss you.

Your family adjusts

To their new way of life.

They don’t say much now

To an absent mother and wife.

The local men misunderstand;

And mistake a smiling face

For something much more comely.

So they try to invade your space.

Their women suspect you –

Jealous of your youth –

And they gradually withdraw,

Becoming spiteful and aloof.

You find consolation

With the women like you –

Genuine laughter and grins –

But, alas, they are so few.

Yet the money is good;

And you hope it is worth

The sacrifice of self

And the scars of rebirth.

As the days become years

You pray that your children can see you

In the house full of your gifts
And horizons that they can now view.