When the old immigrants came to America
they came on boats
No luxury liners or steamships these
The immigrants packed around cargo
tight as sardines
Many succumbed
to the horrible stench
of the hold below
to the diseases that proliferated
others grew sick and afraid
as many of them
scarcely children themselves
watched the ocean mercilessly break
over the bow
They wondered would they ever make it
On such a ship as these
my seventeen year old father
his yearning for America
exceeded only by
his longing for land
embarked from Italy
and disembarked
upon Ellis Island
He kissed the ground
he told me
not so happy to be in America
as to have left behind
the stormy sea
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John DeSantis is a retired New York City teacher who lived the better part of his years in the borough of the Bronx prior to relocating to northeast Pennsylvania five years ago. In addition to teaching ] high school mathematics for almost fifteen years, he spent sixteen years teaching special education in the same NYC system. During those years he taught travel training, special reading and mathematics to mentally disabled high school students. The capstone of his career was a three-year involvement in a pilot program for the severely and profoundly multiply handicapped. He had an opportunity to employ many principles of behavior modification there with great success.
Since his retirement, he has divided his time between tutoring, pursuing a doctorate in English Literature and writing. He has written two plays, several short stories, numerous essays, memoirs and poetry.His poetry has been published in almost a score of anthologies.
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