For The Campesinos: Thank you for picking our daily bread

Today is International Worker's day...

Everyday I roll out of bed. I turn off my alarm clock lazily and turn on the lights. As I get ready for school I try to be as awake as possible. I go down the stairs and in to the kitchen, grab a snack, kiss my mom and out the door I go. Walk, walk, walk I go with my brother to my side. I wait for the bus...I get on the bus and sit next to Maria.

When I look out the window I see people with their backs to me. They are bending over picking the daily bread for us all. I see them running from one side to the next. Carrying boxes and picking frantically. I stare...I cannot believe my eyes.

I go to school, I study, and learn material, When I get back on the bus for my ride home and I look out the window...I see people with their backs to me. I see people sitting on the floor, eating their meals.  They sit on the dirt, right next to the soil they have spent tilling for minutes, hours, days, lifetimes. I stare. I have been in school for six hours. I have learned something new and have expanded my knowledge. They have sold some of their health away, they have shortened their years in life...

They pick the daily bread
I eat the daily bread 

They sit on the floor
I sit on a desk

They bend over
I stand tall 

They hold a fruit
I hold a pencil 

They work under the sun
I work under a roof

They feed a family
I am fed by my family

They are human
I am human

The injustice that the Campesinos go through each and every day does not have a name! I am disgusted by the way these human being are treated...

GRIDLOCK

Title of poem means: I cultivate a white rose by Jose Marti

Paraphrase parts of the Poem: " cultivate a white rose In July as in January" meaning: I am kind all year. I give kindness..."

Connotation of some of the words – changing literal meaning to implied or associated values: "I cultivate...I cultivate" meaning I give kindness, I grow kindness in me and in others. It is something that  is distributed. "And for the cruel person that tears out" meaning to crush, and/or harm.

Attitude What is the attitude of the author, characters or yourself?: Attitude/tone is sincere

Shift At first we think or feel one way – then there is a shift:  identify the shifts and explain them: The shift happens in the second stanza. That is when it is spoken about the cruel person and how that does not differ the kind reaction and helping had that will be offered to them. 

Title revisited Any new insights on meaning or significance of title?: Cultivating is our morals what we have been taught, it is what we give and what we have worked to build. The color white signifies purity, and the rose represents beauty, nature, sensitivity. The title states that a white rose is cultivated and throughout the poem the reader is able to understand that though many can be cruel we should practice being kind and compassionate. 

Theme: Be kind to all, friends or not.