Approaching Ellis Island
I look at Ellis Island's mad parade -
the photographs of those who came; foreign
faces, almond eyes, pale skin and dark skin,
bearded, veiled, belted, booted, swathed in sways
of colorful, exotic dresses handmade
of Irish wool or Asian silks. Women
gloved, hatted, haggard, fearful, and fierce. Men
uprooted, but still upright. They came
from old worlds in search of new, better lives,
and they were strange. Odd clothes. Odd food. Odd gods
and twisted tongues. Alien and unlike
us. But they came and became us. A thought:
how dare we, now, push shades of brown aside,
when our first immigrants were pasty white?
For Margaret's prompt at Real Toads
12 comments:
scary memories ..sacrifices bloodshed yet the desire for safe havens rises and
is but natural...only if lands and other people welcome and accept
Love it!! Every word of it.
The way clothes speak volumes of difference. Even before the tongue loosens. Pertinent
Much love...
Colors, textures, feelings, tongues and gods tell so many stories... Tales everyone should remember... but somehow, keep on managing to forget...
If only the Native Americans had built a wall to keep us all out. I wonder if they would have proposed that WE pay for the wall?
This is soo incredibly deep and eloquent MZ!
The last lines and picture say all that should be said.
I agree with Kerry. TOTALLY nailed it.
And today, D- Latino congress people were escorted out of an R-led meeting with the ICE director. Plus the orange one suggested calling out the Nat Guard to 'go after' immigrants. And the lovely OK AG was confirmed as head of the EPA.
such times we live in ~
Human life started in Africa... at some point we were all migrants... to me we live in a crazy world.
Only those utterly without shame would dare.
We are better because of the diversity, that's for sure. Traditions are important ... as well as assimilation into what it is to be American is as well.
Post a Comment