(A Cleave poem is three poems in one. First read column one, top to bottom, then column two, then each line across.)

Independence Day

they sought freedom / a better life
on a distant shore / just over the Rio Grande
a month’s long journey by water / across treacherous terrain
entire families / they came with nothing
risking everything / but their precious children
to chase a dream / only to face a nightmare
when met with hardship / separated by icy hate
the people fought / begging for mercy
for freedom and liberty / for their babies, now orphaned
a cost too dear / by a once shining beacon
too pay / a lady, now looking away
some would say / on a hill
bloodshed and glory / she’s building a wall
the ultimate sacrifice / it can’t come too soon
paid by heroes / whatever the cost
for our independence / to protect them from us

~kat

For some this is a day of national pride and celebration, barbecues, family gatheries and fireworks. For others, it is a continuing nightmare. We have forgotten that most of us were foreigners and refugees once. I cannot celebrate until we remember.