Thursday, September 23, 2021

Seven Generations: A Short Story

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IMMIGRATION


Seven Generations: A Short Story

 

The generations flow

Like currents in a great river

Like waves in the sea

Where each wave is endowed

With the power to alter

The course of history

And all that it encompasses

 

It begins with immigration

(this is not a native story)

Religious persecution

Economic opportunity

Importation of slaves

The great potato famine

The Armenian genocide

The siege of the Warsaw ghetto

The Nazi invasion

The Bracero program

Cold War refugees

The purge of Christians

The purge of Muslims

 

It begins with the journey

A journey of hardship

Discrimination and hatred

Violence and disruption

 

It advances through seven stages

Poor paying jobs

Substandard housing

Poverty and rejection

We don’t want your kind

Go back where you came from

 

It endures through persistence

With the help of friends

Understanding neighbors

And welcoming neighborhoods

 

It advances through hard work

Success and acceptance

Community sacrifice and service

 

It advances through legal proceedings

Stubborn insistence on human rights

Fights in the court

Fights in the legislature

 

It advances when the doors

Of opportunity open through

Representation and demand

 

It advances through power

Money and control

 

In seven generations you arrive

At the American dream

And the keepers at the gate wonder:

What took you so long?

 

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