Sic Semper Alienus

Leaders with crosses swinging 

from their neck, swing Scripture 

like an executioner’s blade 

“Thus always the immigrant.” 

Do you not know my Jesus was a baby 

whose family had to flee?

refugees in a foreign land, 

as written in the prophecy

I’ve spoken with the mothers you hate

Sat on the other side of the phone while well-meaning parents cry for their families, 

cry for their legacy, cry for the seeds they won’t have a chance to sow 

while the strings of their dreams 

slip through their fingers, and woe 

becomes the garment they put on daily. 

“Thus always the immigrant.” 

Don’t you see the blade in your hand 

Is slitting the roots of your own 

family tree? 

Lady Liberty once welcomed English and German and Irish and Swede, but 

wouldn't you like her to forget 

how our ancestors were once the empty-pocketed, 

eyes full of dreams?

Now you beg her to spit on brown skin and brown eyes and brown heads 

who are doing their best 

just like my grandfather did and his father 

and his father. Our Father 

who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. 

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, 

in Brooklyn as it is in heaven.