mother in exile

once great, colossus stands in shame on Liberty’s guarded shores
sounding the alarm she cries to pilgrims near and far
you are no longer welcome here at these tall shuttered gates
her torch has been extinguished by a cruel wave of hate
she’s a mother now in exile, since they stripped her of her name
she weeps for all her children, “please don’t come here, it’s not safe.”
the torch she once held high went dark in 1984
its replacement never glowed as bright as it had shined before
the tired, poor, the refugees, still came to seek her face
but the gatekeepers decided that these souls should be erased
the pillars on the hill are toppling, tumbling to the ground
no freedom or democracy, as a dictator is crowned
the world watched in horror as the great colossus fell
history once again repeating, truth, future tomes will tell

~kat

NaGloPoWriMo 2025 – Prompt: write a poem that directly addresses someone, and that includes a made-up word, an odd/unusual simile, a statement of “fact,” and something that seems out of place in time (like a Sonny & Cher song in a poem about a Greek myth).

I took my inspiration from the poem by Emma Lazarus. The poem and a few facts are listed below.

To my international friends…I’m so sorry my country’s poor choice in electing a crazy person now affects you as well. The latest news from the rose garden…tariffs. It all feels scary and messed up. But here is a fun fact that illustrates what a band of lunatics are in charge!

There were substantial tariffs imposed on two uninhabited volcanic islands… well one of them is inhabited by penguins, seals, and seagulls. Social media had a field day…

“The Heard Island and McDonald penguins have been taking advantage of us for too long – it’s about time we stood up to them!” former New Jersey congressman Tom Malinowski joked on X.

Sometimes all you can do is laugh at the craziness. We’re all waiting I’m sure to see if the penguins decide to impose a retaliatory tariff on us!…there’s your glimmer for today. It’s impossible to take any of this seriously even though it is dead serious. All I can say is, be kind to those you encounter. Be a glimmer in someone’s life. We’ll get through this…together.

Much love, peace and glimmers to you…and penguins…I’m hoping to stay on their good side!

~kat

“The New Colossus” is a sonnet by American poet Emma Lazarus (1849–1887). She wrote the poem in 1883 to raise money for the construction of a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World). In 1903, the poem was cast onto a bronze plaque and mounted inside the pedestal’s lower level.

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

~Emma Lazarus