Mexico Border Crossing Tragedy (My Poem Is A Tribute To Valeria Ramírez) Poem by Bernedita Rosinha Pinto

Locked in a final embrace they drowned
aspirations on the shores of grief got washed away
as a child in her father's care breathed her last,
death spared not even her dad who with hopes so high
had set to cross the border to give her a better life.

Where was concern for one's own survival in such an endeavor?
where was safety looming when a child he was carrying
on his back without thinking what if he misses his plan?
Above all, where was God's mercy hanging when
they were both drowning?

Nothing in the labyrinth of imaginations
her father might have calculated
that his little girl's fate was at stake
as he made his decisions;
he dared to dare as he felt it was the right moment
to find a new home on the other side of the border.

But time and tide decided against his dreams of success
father and child drowned before
they could reach the shore-line;
and as pictures kept unrolling the tragedy
bringing tears of sympathy in the eyes of so many,
the world heard and read of this tragic story
evoking an inexpressible pity in the hearts of so many.

Which young father on this earth would ever want to pursue
a better future for his daughter when she was just two?
which dad would ever choose to cross the seas
to reach another country unless he was that brave son
who was so determined?
which young husband would ever swim tirelessly
with a hope of securing better life for his family?

Yes, he was that father, that husband, that son
who cared selflessly for others than his own life;
it was time and tide that betrayed his luck
it left no voice to call and say goodbye to others back home
it left no chance to tell others that they would
never come back home to their hugs and kisses.

But it left a memory for the world to never forget
that humanity is the best gift for those who despair
and to prevent young hearts from swimming and drowning
in those deep seas as they chase their aspirations
the world must be a better place with hearts of understanding.

Imagine if that father had to make it to those shores
his little daughter would have played and laughed,
danced and sang, studied and become a great girl some day
had she to live, had she to survive...
had her dad really made it thro' that ordeal just once
an innocent child would have still been here, alive and smiling.