My dear immigrant,

I can sense you’ve traveled far.

You say you’re from Ohio? 

Yes, it’s a short trip by car.

But your grandma’s Northern Irish

And your great-grandpa is Aleman.

Why, they came so long and far...

But no, you say.

You’re a citizen through and through.

Your father is a war veteran,

And your mother writes the local news.

Well, rightly so, I say.

But I’ve been here since the beginning,

And having occupied my post

For quite some time, I’ll tell you

Once you reach a certain decade,

The faces begin to blur together.

From where I stand,

You’re all visitors.

The only variant is degree.

I see it in your eyes,

You don’t like what I’ve said.

Just last week you chanted

To build that wall

And take our land back.

Well, I’ll have you know,

I’m not entirely opposed.

In fact, I’m rather in favor.

The more divisions,

The better my business, you see.

Oh, how rude of me —

I forgot to introduce myself.

The first thing I’ll have you know

Is that I have also traveled far. 

I came with the conquistadors,

While they sailed the ocean blue.

But I didn’t fit the ship, mind you.

Back then I sat and waited,

In the finicky minds of men,

Waiting for my chance,

Some shot at a life

That I could call my own.

But do not pity me,

My wait was never long. 

My construction began soon after

Between houses, stores, and parks.

I come in many forms:

Wooden, iron, metal,

Wire if I’m feeling classy. 

I divide the rich and the poor,

The neighbors and the workers,

Private property and the city.

I kept your home safe,

From the mutts and the stragglers.

You really ought to thank me;

My work just doesn’t stop.

Business is good, but recently,

It’s better than good.

In a flurry of construction

shards of stone and wood,

In my sudden upsurge,

my golden era I observed.

Like a newly-blossomed butterfly,

I spread my wings and —

Up I flew.

Headlines,

Rhetoric,

News,

Rallies and anti-rallies,

Rallies against the anti-rallies.

A government shut down —

The longest in history,

My holiday delivery.

So now I say:

Immigrant, when you decide

That a country is criminal,

That unauthorized means unwanted,

That brown equals security threat,

Call me and I will come.

I used to stand nervously,

Unsure of my foundation.

Now, no longer.

Wood rots,

Iron rusts,

Walls collapse,

But ideas live on.

And now,

So will I.