Perth Mexican
Raphael was ten months here
Two years in Ayr before
Warehouse or vegetable harvests.
Six friends from the South
In frame bunkhouse
Long hot days labouring
Behind ponderous machines.
Seldom nights off in
Core of Hamilton.
Not at all healthy or safe.
But then he heard of
Sorting work with
Eggs in Listowel
Burnbrae Farms.
Good hours
Behefits after four months probation.
Raphael, Miguel
And Gabriel also took the plunge.
Moved over to
Share a two storey walk-up.
Month to month.
Got a bank account each.
English was proving
A challenge.
Night course conversational
Twice per week.
The answer. The language
So unpredictable.
Too many synonyms
Idioms and colloquial.
Not at all like
Beloved building-block
Spanish, which always
made the point, straight and simple.
The course also featured
Some short stories and poems.
Magical enjoyment.
Poe, Wordsworth, Coleridge
Lightfoot, Munro and Layton.
Soon Raphael found himself
Downing more of the printed page
Than many Ontarians.
Newspapers, McLeans magazine
Readers Digest
Giving different slants
Of the other two, Gabrael
Longed for the Rio Grand.
And a return.
His airfare would be tallied
In another two months of eggs
And occasional bumps
From some home grown gringos.
Graceless as toads.
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