Classic Poem

For my late friend Sajiyou

What does it mean to wander?
You had no idea
All you knew is that you had to leave
Hoping to find a permanent place to stay
At the tender age of thirteen
Still so innocent and unknowing
You went to work for twelve hours a day
Pawned to work as a welder in a factory
You bore the foul air and the long confinement
Not permitted to go out and with no wages
Your ID card held in the boss's safe
Once the three-year contract was fulfilled, you left
You ended up at a brick factory
Hauling bricks, you made more money
Strong as a wild mountain boar
In the stifling hot factory
You earned the praise of your boss
But you had to leave
Simply because you were unwilling to take
The lowest pay for the heaviest work
You went to the construction site to carry bricks, sand, and gravel
You said you got paid by the load
Anyway, you had strength and your freedom
But who would have guessed
Three months later the foreman embezzled the payroll
No choice but to pawn your ID card at a shipping company
You never stopped wandering
You worked as a hauler, sleeping in a truck
You worked in a steel factory, swinging a hammer, sleeping there too
You wandered to the vast ocean, hopped a fishing boat
Crossed the water to work in Saudi Arabia
Until a backhoe
Put an end to your wanderings
When it broke your back...
With your last breath you seemed to say
I understand A man is forced to wander
And death is a release from worldly cares
Go, you wanderer
Wander to that unknown world
For perhaps it is a peaceful place.