Dear Representative Kathy Casto Poem by James McLain

I humbly write to you
not only as a citizen, but as one whose faith in the principles of compassion and justice has carried me through these years of quiet suffering.

Yours is a position of great influence, and with it, the ability to set right a wrong that weighs heavily on my heart,
can you not hear?

There is a harmony in nature—birds and bees,
the wind that sings across the open fields, and waves caress our gentle shores—reminding us of our shared obligation, our belief to one another.

Yet, this harmony falters when those entrusted with our care turn us away.
I have spoken to many of your aides, laid bare my need, and now I must appeal for justice to only you.

Empathy and compassion should not be rare commodities;
they are the lifeblood of our shared humanity.

For years, I have bled under the strain of this wrong,
my path made crooked by burdens I cannot now bear alone.

The Constitution promises help to those in need, yet the weight of such in seeking it humbles even the strongest.
The fourteenth amendment states.

My faith lies in the strength and trust of those who lead, hoping they will steady even our uneven roads.

The velvet sky is full of stars unseen, hidden behind the clouds,
much like the truth I now bring to your doorstep.

This wrong, unnamed yet ever-present, has taken nearly all that I can give.
If you should turn away, I wonder thus: who then are we, if not the hands that lift us up our face to one another?

Butterflies and dragonflies once began as tadpoles, confined to the ponds that nourished them.

We, too, are bound by what shapes us, but we must rise beyond it.
Ethically and morally,
I am asking you: please, lift the phone, and speak the words I seek.

A single act of advocacy from you could release the truth, clearing the clouds that obscure the moonlight of my hope.

This is not just about my needs; it is about the principles we uphold,
the humanity that we profess to share.
Please, I ask of you, right this wrong. Help me see the stars once more, before I go to sleep.

Yours sincerely, I am all you are that's good that you should keep, the other side at bay.

James McLain