you float in the shadow of Al Capone’s last home,
largest natural island in California’s San Francisco Bay,
a blessing to our choppy freezing Pacific,
a candle of promise,
a stone’s throw to freedom,
an island harboring souls who lost in a fight to survive,
some legit, some wrong place wrong time, 
some turning a cheek to the harsh smack of Capitalism,
some born on the wrong side of the tracks,
some caught in a hobo’s Great Depression dream,
some reaching for the gold ring as the merry-go-round goes round and round
and the organ plays ‘life is just a dream!’

Miwoks
kicked off their Angel Island,
Chinese hard labor contributed to the coffers of railroad millionaires,
forcing incarcerated space for WWII Japanese prisoners,
Japanese precision made money for the Man,
as they sought refuge and swore not to organize in Solidarity

But the Big Guys don’t fall easy,
privilege has taught them gluttonous getting is never enough,
the Miwok Angels
were kicked off their island,
the ones who knew how to live respectfully with nature and
proliferate their land

We shame those who appear different,
Say they are wet behind the ears,
immigrants were simply seeking a future
not an Angel Island Prison

Angel Island you have earned your reputation
as
Ellis Island of the West