Rosa's Coronas - Kate Campbell

Como estas?

My name is Rosa and like my mother before me

Everyday I roll cigars and they’re the finest in the world

To pass the time the reader reads about the violence in America

And I pray for my daughter and her baby girl

Late one night they took a boat ninety miles from Havana

To escape the only life I’ve ever known

She could have been just like me, a well-respected working woman

Who believes in her country and her home

And I wonder as I roll where will each one go

Will they land in the hands of kings and presidents

It’s an art, it’s a skill, and some would even kill

Just for one of Rosa’s coronas

It’s everywhere in the news that John Paul is on his way

And for years I’ve longed to see the Holy Father’s parade

We’ve been told not to go or production falls behind

But I know the quota won’t be made that day