Poem to Donald Trump From the ‘Masses’ of the Statue of Liberty

Jul 9, 2015
9:30 PM

Dedicated to my greatest teachers—the immigrant population of the United States.
To those that like many of my family members, who suffer under a broken and racist immigration system, have not yet been able to bury their dead or cry at their graves.

Statue_of_Liberty

Nothing more powerful than the New York Subway

In its serendipity led me to naively dream
in my immigrant optimism

That you
Someday, someday soon might regret your vile words

Daggers piercing the heart of this great immigrant nation

With an insipid smile and a sensitive political primary tongue

You licked the virginity off of lady liberty
as many of your nativist forefathers have done

She has us as protectors, as brave immigrant women and men
and those brave enough to remember,

the sweat dripping through the annals of history
refreshing dry land that rises into constructions sites, deli sandwiches and infinite dreams

You coward
I dare you to look into her eyes
And repeat your assault on history

My generation will conquer you
It knows the powerful taste of applesauce
drenched in black, brown and white tears

Taste the tears of lady liberty
tears of and for the huddled masses that continue yearning to breathe free

Taste the tears of lady liberty
That you might finally know what it’s like to say
“Give me liberty or give me death”

Taste the tears of lady liberty
tears of patriotism that scare you
in your hollow lifeless political stench

We are the past, the present and the future
of this 4th of July

The United States will be powerful in two languages
whether you like it or not

For Donald, it has always been immigrant tears
falling like holy rain
saving our country from itself

transforming it into a sacred temple
dedicated to the journeys
of those pilgrims that know
how to make everywhere home.

***

Carlos Rodríguez is a graduate student at New York University. He tweets from @CarlosMRodrig89.