there is talk of boarding up the nation
now the river is on the rise
of sealing every border to hold back the human tide
for there is a fear abroad that this will not subside
but will churn through the settled order of the ways
a people built a nation fit to spend their days
they have boarded up the mind
as if there is too much to grasp
understanding no defence
when desperate strangers claim a right of residence
surely none before could presume such right
to enter another's home without invite
take a share of all that is within
without contest, for this was never theirs to win
by conquest, war or lawful course
but still they come by weight of will
and some strange moral force
we once ruled their world
we were the ruthless or romantic explorers
(well, not so much 'us' as the 'we' who went before us)
and in the pillage we took delight
thinking time would write off debts of our imperial might
we drew the boundaries, paying little heed
to the call of tribe, nation, creed
of those who lost the right of consultation as to borders
conceding to the head cock in the pecking order
aye, for we could crow and strut
more than our chests swelled in pride
that in the very act of winning
good was on our side
in the very places where the rivers now rise
we used strokes of ink to do Solomon's work
took our booty off the tottering empire of the Turk
the victor's spoil
that lay beneath their dusty soil
oil
Very interesting concepts you have detailed within this poem, truth permeates it all. Our borders should be closed and no one let in, too many people have entered our countries illegally wanting hand outs and demanding that we give them everything they didn't get in their countries. Time to put a stop to it once and for all. Take care of our own, let them take care of themselves! If they don't want to work it's all on them! Great writing! Thank you for sharing, RoseAnn
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Anti-immigration fire-breathers need to read this. The migrants challenge us to wrestle with questions of value and responsibility. But we are not very good at questioning ourselves and owning up to the aftereffects of past deeds. Most American's don't have the patience to figure out how the societal breakdown in Mexico ties in with monopolization of resource extraction by a banking system that's in America's pockets.