Puerto Rican Orbituary
Devin Smith
Professor Heater
English
7, March 2013 When my family and I came to America, it was extremely tough for us. We had to adapt to a new culture and a new country. It felt like we were starting over. The poem “Puerto Rican Obituary” by Pedro Pietri was a good way of showing some of the difficulties immigrants face when coming to the United States or any new country. I migrated to this country with my family when I was about 5 years old. We had to stay at my father’s friend’s house a year because my parents found it difficult finding a job in order to support for us. When they both found jobs, it took them a while to save money in order for them to afford paying bills. I can relate to the poem because the difficulties that the Puerto Ricans in Pedro Peitri poem faced were similar to the difficulties my parents faced.
“They worked ten days a week and were only paid for five
They worked
They worked
They worked and they died
They died broke
They died owing”
These were some of the things that my parents had to face. Even though they were working, it felt as if they weren’t. My parents worked and worked every day and yet still didn’t have enough money to take care of us and pay off their bills. Nobody cared that we were new to the country. All the landlord knew was that he got his rent every month , ConEdison only cared that my parents paid the bill or we would have live in the dark, and the government was going to collect their taxes at every pay check. Even though Pedro Peitri characters in the poem were puetro Rican immigrants, it felt as if he was speaking for all the immigrants. The reason why I say this is because I migrated here from Nigeria and a lot of the things me and my family faced were similar. I remember the days when my parents had to go down to the salvation army to get some clothes for us, because they didn’t have enough money left over to purchase some new clothing’s. Before coming to America, I used to think that America
Professor Heater
English
7, March 2013 When my family and I came to America, it was extremely tough for us. We had to adapt to a new culture and a new country. It felt like we were starting over. The poem “Puerto Rican Obituary” by Pedro Pietri was a good way of showing some of the difficulties immigrants face when coming to the United States or any new country. I migrated to this country with my family when I was about 5 years old. We had to stay at my father’s friend’s house a year because my parents found it difficult finding a job in order to support for us. When they both found jobs, it took them a while to save money in order for them to afford paying bills. I can relate to the poem because the difficulties that the Puerto Ricans in Pedro Peitri poem faced were similar to the difficulties my parents faced.
“They worked ten days a week and were only paid for five
They worked
They worked
They worked and they died
They died broke
They died owing”
These were some of the things that my parents had to face. Even though they were working, it felt as if they weren’t. My parents worked and worked every day and yet still didn’t have enough money to take care of us and pay off their bills. Nobody cared that we were new to the country. All the landlord knew was that he got his rent every month , ConEdison only cared that my parents paid the bill or we would have live in the dark, and the government was going to collect their taxes at every pay check. Even though Pedro Peitri characters in the poem were puetro Rican immigrants, it felt as if he was speaking for all the immigrants. The reason why I say this is because I migrated here from Nigeria and a lot of the things me and my family faced were similar. I remember the days when my parents had to go down to the salvation army to get some clothes for us, because they didn’t have enough money left over to purchase some new clothing’s. Before coming to America, I used to think that America