5 to 9

Tired muscles, tired eyes
 Can't sleep through this Oaxacan night
 He's kept away from dreaming, haunted by thoughts of failing
 The family whom he shares a bed
 A tiny room even less bread
 He cries out to himself silently
 I am not a man
 I can't feed my children
 This is no life for them
 So he's out of bed with the sunrise
 He kisses his wife and kids goodbye
 Then heads north to the border
 To work, become a provider
 But gathered at the country line
 Are protesters all holding signs
 He can't read but translates perfectly
 I am not a man
 I'm just a Mexican
 Illegal immigrant
 The politicians the pundits the public debate
 But one question's lost in policy
 "Is a man not a man if he's born outside a boundary?"
 Stumbling through the desert alone and afraid
 He almost dies from the heat
 But he thinks of his family and that keeps him going
 He won't stop for death least the laws of a country
 Arrested is no threat when you're already living unfree
 So he works the fields from 5 to 9
 Plus any job that he can find
 Saves up all his money, sends it to his family
 Before he falls asleep at night
 A thousand miles from his life
 He assuredly repeats
 I am a human
 A father a husband
 A global citizen
 Not a debatable statistic
 I'm not your problem economic
 I'm not a threat to patriotic
 That's idiotic
 I am a...