Indian Arrival Day Poem by Sookdeo Manansingh

We left our motherland of India on a journey west
with the hope that we would live life to the best

together we considered ourselves jahaghis on the boat
three months on the ocean we remain with the waves afloat

to arrive with disappointment what our eyes couldn't believe
they tricked us to become laborers which we did not perceive

placed in a deserted island to work in the sugar estate
the thought in the mind of returning home is now too late

we had no choice but to endure the hardship and pain
forcefully to accept the outcome and to seek our own gain

to start a new beginning and create a world on our own
the bitterness of the estate cannot be compared to a throne

with tears in our eyes we will never return to the land of our birth
we are chained to our destiny to fulfill our purpose on earth