(as in if)
by Else
Her body is Fr*nch,
Her words are J*wish,
She is Corroded,
She is Green,,,
She stands đź—˝
Mother of Exiles,
She welcomes those who are French and Jewish and Corroded and Green,
those tired and poor and yearning to breathe free.
She stands on broken chains,
before an island which used to trade in them.
She sees our sins, and our Reform.
Behold her, and Don’t Blink.
Not even for ash and glass.
My beloved Liberty—
blessed be, Mother of Exiles—
welcomes huddled masses from all shores.
She sends them through our golden door
to the wide open West.
At what cost did it open?
Was it Manifest Destiny,
or our unchecked cruelty?
Was our refuge opened by divine Providence,
or the accursed Barrel?
The broken chains on which She stands are stained with blood.
By Moses this is truly righteous. Nevertheless,
“war is not hell. War is worse,
for there are no innocent bystanders in hell.”
We have sown war with a cry of 🇺🇸Freedom🦅,
and we have reaped results glorious and atrocious.
I have learned
“to every thing there is a season”, but
Freedom is more bountiful in Peace.