lights a candle

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When our Asylum Policy became secretive and we have no names and no stories, it is easy to be “crooned into amnesia,” we can actually “forget our humanity” as the second last line says.

In The Lorex, by Dr. Seuss, the final lines (which I read to children at home and at school many hundreds of times over the years) after all the trees have been cut down, he drops a seed, the very last seed of them all, and unless some one like you, plants it, and nurtures it, . . . . my poem calls for  action from us, for unless we act, be it light a candle or show we care , unless . . .

. . .lights a candle

and it comes to pass
we misplace our hearts
lose the song
forget the dance
break our tambourines
turn our backs
tremble with fear

when the unknown arrives
close doors

no names
no stories
no refugees
only a coined word
illegals

alleviates responsibility
croons amnesia

and in time
forget our humanity

unless someone like us . . .