Rural Diversity Poem by Celia AmanteaSchulz

Migrant workers..
From Texas to Wisconsin
Fifty years ago..

Coming to where the work
and dreams were plentiful.

A little ale and little sleep
This cultural diversity is a part of
our rural farming history

Past and Present

A young Texan hombre
Finding work and a little pay
Courting a senorita
both from the same tiny Texan town, Cotulla

They marry here in Wisconsin
Their offspring playing
in the fields of their toil.

Most went on to find jobs
in industry; living the blue collar life
making the steel harvesters
that promised to replace the manual labor.

Look in the fields today
Still they come,
but from farther borders
Fifty years later...
coming to where the work
and dreams still smell of promise.


Dedicated to Jose Charo, Sr and Alicia(Salvidar) Charo
in Celebration of their Fiftieth Wedding Anniversary