Author: Shakhrizoda Sadriddinova

The reason I chose “Citizenship” by Javier Zamora is because of its accurate reality and
the influential details he pointed out from his journey in 1999. While watching the video of him
reading the poem out loud, the sadness in his voice and eyes caught my attention. The purpose of
this poem is to tell how difficult for migrants when they come to the United States, especially
from the borders of Mexico where they will stay in the U.S. permanently once they enter. No
way to go back. The poet describes how they come empty-handed, hungry, and how they
struggle with living in the streets because they do not speak English. Not everyone came with
green cards, if did, then they would not go through such a hardship as being homeless, without
an identity, and importantly empty-handed.
The poem reminded me of my past when my family came to the United States in 2014,
even though we came with a green card, we still had difficulties such as not being able to
communicate with people because we did not know English, how my parents struggled to find an
apartment right after another. Reading through the “Citizenship,” gave me a feeling of sorrow
and disappointment because I realized there are people out there who went or going through
worsening than us. As the poet mentioned in lines 3 and 4
“they were hungry because their hands
were empty their hands in trashcans”
Imagine migrating to another country with dreams and hopes but ending up living in the
streets and hands in trashcans therefore it is very unfortunate. Moreover, the author also states
that it can lead to harsh depression, not just the individual himself, it could be his whole family
that came together. In lines 22 and 23:
“We didn’t know how we had ended up here
we didn’t know but we understood why they walk”
Javier Zamora says that he was only nine years old when he went through this without his
family, and you can still notice the sadness in him when he is reading “Citizenship.”
Throughout my research, another poem by Javier Zamora “Let Me Try Again” has
similarities with “Citizenship.” The poet uses several word meanings such as left out in hunger,
and in a situation of trying to migrate. “Let Me Try Again” was meant to address the difficulties
he went through while trying to cross the borders, therefore they were caught by the police
officers and were sent back to where they come from. Listening to the poet articulate the poem, a
reader gets more intense of sorrow and loss than when it is read. The poems take the reader
through the speaker’s journey, from the specificity of his experience and awareness of conveying
it to the shared experiences he had with other migrants.
In conclusion, the poet has given a reader a clear and memorable vision of
migration, detail by detail from his own experience. Moreover, the reader gets the opportunity to
read about the tough realities that come with illegal border crossings