Portside

Make America Safe Again

By Philip C Kolin

Washington couldn't sleep in America
Anymore. There are no quiet, peaceful towns
To visit. From the Hudson River to Humbolt Bay
Voices are blazing with John Brown furor
Over who gets into this country
And who gets out.

A hundred years ago, anyone with a dream
Stamped on his/her passport was welcomed
How different now that dreamers are put on a list of aliens,
Exiles, no matter how bravely they sing
God bless America or how proudly they wear
The colors of the flag.

Same thing with fugitives from terror;
They are too often confused
With their bombing jihadists attackers
When all they seek is a safe place
To raise their children and their voices
In thanksgiving for a country
With enough roofs to cover
The wounds they received in getting here.

Too many barbed wire troublemakers
Are trying to wall in a country
That needs to wall them out
And make America safe again
For Washington to sleep in peace.

Philip C. Kolin is the Distinguished Professor of English (Emeritus) at the Univ. of Southern Mississippi where he edited The Southern Quarterly for seven years. He has published more than 40 books including eight collections of poems, most recently Emmett Till in Different States (Third World Press, 2015) and Benedict's Daughter (Wipf and Stock, 2017).