Entropy: South Americans At The Border Poem by R.A. Burleigh

1
I have wiggled away from death, walked away from fighting
Not since high school football have I longed for violence
Finally the mud tired me, I felt confused, even in victory

Today I was told that there is not enough land, not enough food, not enough air
Some must seek help from brutality elsewhere: is that the new mantra
There are already too many of us: let the strangers scream and starve

When was it we put the statue lady in the New York harbor
Were those people crazy, those welcoming the statue and lifting it
Is that dream of grace and goodness doomed to die and be forgotten

I see the ocean cranes, that is my doom, vengeful imagination
I keep envisioning a hundred old laborers, standing in sweaty shirts
"Damn, she's a giant, " they elbow each other speaking proud and exhausted

Then I drive through Wyoming
Then I drive through Utah
Then I drive through Colorado

Then I drive through Oregon
Then I drive through New Mexico
I must be crazy, I must be

What in hell is science good for if it can not help people build homes
Grow food, expand the water table, plant trees, purify dust into brick
Does anyone imagine a frightened. running man, woman, child refusing USA space
2
Let us make a poem of our hearts
In the name of Michelangelo who thought he could draw God and place him on a giant ceiling -
Or, if that doesn't work for you, in the name of aunt Elizabeth who came from Ireland
Or cousin Umbellio who came from Spain, or the Japanese wrestler, Kenji Hamada who
Created free eye shadow clinics for children in Oregon

Let us not waist for congress to act, but warn them now
Help humanity or go home
Washington was the name of a man who wanted us to be free
His city is no place for sycophants
There is air and water and land for everyone in our vast spaces

Redirect money to building new cities in the west, southwest, northwest
Open the deserts
Put the immigrants to work for themselves
Design love, dream of purity
: The poor have always enriched us