JOAQUIN
(Tish Hinojosa)

Joaquin shed a tear for the treason
But who’d hear his desperate cry
He learned to speak English from tourists
And reading by kerosene light
He couldn’t afford education
But something was burning inside
He heard things were good in America
And that’s what had been on his mind

I met him when I was traveling
Through Mexico one summer day
Eyes twice as old as the young man
Who taught me a lesson in faith
Fate made him poor but he knew there was more
Though I never did see him again
I know somewhere in America
Joaquin must’ve found him a place

CHORUS
Joaquin loves his homeland
But it can’t give him enough
He wants a good life a job and a wife
And some children with dreams that come true

Bridge
Moonless night crossing the bad land
(Ayuda me Dios)
Sign of the cross o’er his chest
(Mi vida mi fe)
Pounding heart racing til sunrise
Mile after mile without rest

Back at the border there’s papers
But politics get in the way
It may not be right but they take through the night
Some pay for the dream with their life

from My Homeland, CD Baby, 2019