This poem by OverTheRainbow, age 12, of Vermont, was written in response to the challenge, Liberty: The Statue of Liberty, originally called "Liberty Enlightening the World," has stood as a symbol of freedom and hope since its dedication in 1886. And now? What is the message the U.S. is sending the world?
And What Must They Think of Our Golden Door Now?
the statue of liberty was brown once, an unprepared American girl blistering in the sun as if our Constitution has torn sharp green papercuts into her skin.
the statue of liberty does not speak, a silenced American girl who cannot utter even a hello to her people, her lips sealed together by a man she does not know.
the statue of liberty clutches independence in her left hand and freedom in her right, a heartbroken American girl still holding onto things she no longer believes in.
the statue of liberty used to long to turn around, a naive American girl wishing to greet the country she was named for instead of the cold Atlantic crashing against shores she doesn't remember.
the statue of liberty screams silently into the unborn constellations, a terrified American girl trying to save the whole world with only a torch and a poem and a broken chain.
the statue of liberty walks forward into the night, a tearstained American girl ready to give up all she knows for only the chance of a place where children do not know what it means to live like this.
and the statue of liberty cries because she is an incomplete American girl who is trying to find the strength to fight for a someday American girl who will not need a copper statue to be free.
Posted in response to the challenge Liberty.
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