peacestartswithme.org

Friday, July 13, 2007

Immigration

I heard on NPR the other day the reading of the Statue of Liberty inscription. I had never heard the whole thing before, but it is truly beautiful.

What happened to this belief? Surely we do not treat our Exiles as well as this inscription says.

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"