All Nonfiction
- Bullying
- Books
- Academic
- Author Interviews
- Celebrity interviews
- College Articles
- College Essays
- Educator of the Year
- Heroes
- Interviews
- Memoir
- Personal Experience
- Sports
- Travel & Culture
All Opinions
- Bullying
- Current Events / Politics
- Discrimination
- Drugs / Alcohol / Smoking
- Entertainment / Celebrities
- Environment
- Love / Relationships
- Movies / Music / TV
- Pop Culture / Trends
- School / College
- Social Issues / Civics
- Spirituality / Religion
- Sports / Hobbies
All Hot Topics
- Bullying
- Community Service
- Environment
- Health
- Letters to the Editor
- Pride & Prejudice
- What Matters
- Back
Summer Guide
- Program Links
- Program Reviews
- Back
College Guide
- College Links
- College Reviews
- College Essays
- College Articles
- Back
The Wall to the Immigrant
My dear immigrant,
I can sense you’ve traveled far.
You say you’re from Ohio?
Yes, it’s a short trip by car.
But your grandma’s Northern Irish
And your great-grandpa is Aleman.
Why, they came so long and far...
But no, you say.
You’re a citizen through and through.
Your father is a war veteran,
And your mother writes the local news.
Well, rightly so, I say.
But I’ve been here since the beginning,
And having occupied my post
For quite some time, I’ll tell you
Once you reach a certain decade,
The faces begin to blur together.
From where I stand,
You’re all visitors.
The only variant is degree.
I see it in your eyes,
You don’t like what I’ve said.
Just last week you chanted
To build that wall
And take our land back.
Well, I’ll have you know,
I’m not entirely opposed.
In fact, I’m rather in favor.
The more divisions,
The better my business, you see.
Oh, how rude of me —
I forgot to introduce myself.
The first thing I’ll have you know
Is that I have also traveled far.
I came with the conquistadors,
While they sailed the ocean blue.
But I didn’t fit the ship, mind you.
Back then I sat and waited,
In the finicky minds of men,
Waiting for my chance,
Some shot at a life
That I could call my own.
But do not pity me,
My wait was never long.
My construction began soon after
Between houses, stores, and parks.
I come in many forms:
Wooden, iron, metal,
Wire if I’m feeling classy.
I divide the rich and the poor,
The neighbors and the workers,
Private property and the city.
I kept your home safe,
From the mutts and the stragglers.
You really ought to thank me;
My work just doesn’t stop.
Business is good, but recently,
It’s better than good.
In a flurry of construction
shards of stone and wood,
In my sudden upsurge,
my golden era I observed.
Like a newly-blossomed butterfly,
I spread my wings and —
Up I flew.
Headlines,
Rhetoric,
News,
Rallies and anti-rallies,
Rallies against the anti-rallies.
A government shut down —
The longest in history,
My holiday delivery.
So now I say:
Immigrant, when you decide
That a country is criminal,
That unauthorized means unwanted,
That brown equals security threat,
Call me and I will come.
I used to stand nervously,
Unsure of my foundation.
Now, no longer.
Wood rots,
Iron rusts,
Walls collapse,
But ideas live on.
And now,
So will I.
Similar Articles
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
This article has 0 comments.