Welcome, Welcome, Welcome

By: Kiran Waqar, Hawa Adam, Balkisa Abdikadir, and Lena Ginawi

Welcome, Welcome X 3 (softer and descending)
Lady Liberty: Welcome, Welcome X 2 more (louder and ascending)
Child your mother is calling you
Come mix into this melting pot
We invite the flavor, the culture, the warmth
Come to the land of the free
To the home of the brave

Whose land is this?
How far does your freedom go back?
Do you know the names of the tribes you stand on?
Who decides who stands here?

My torch is lit for you
I stand alone in the dark
Come join me
Come,
My soil is ready for your footprints
This place is one for your feet to stomp all over the restrictions
Child come swim in this liquor of liberty

Let me tell you
I fought hard for my freedom
My children are dead
My mother is dead
My father is dead
My family is dead
K: I am alone (solo)
I cannot breathe
Tell me, who is truly welcome here?
Lady liberty teach us again

I’m still teaching with open arms,
please join me, please hug me
Enrich me
Truly make me great again

Lady Liberty, you were built with broken chains at your feet
You were a gift that tried to erase the memory
Of a time when they brought darker folks than me
Iron clad with heads down, souls broken
Your people stole my people when they needed them
Had power over them
But now we need you
Can your people welcome us without owning us?

Yes. I am a mother, you are my children. I cannot own my own kin. My family is deeper than countries and boundaries, my blood line is thicker than oceans. Give me all those who ache to breathe in a space where they will not be beaten for daring to let their lungs expand….(gasp)!!!!
Yes I want your tired, poor, the ones yearning to breathe free,
child breathe free

We can’t breathe. (quiet and slow)
The walls they talk of building are closing in on us
Where is the freedom that you once gave out so graciously
Why do you refuse us today when you accepted us yesterday?

You are welcome
I invite you who have suffered
To enjoy this freedom, to be fed
I’ll let you in, have let them in
I held my torch for all to see when they drew close
That their travel had paid off
I am still prepared for the waves, the currents of people washing onto my beaches

Do you mean the pollution? (sarcastic dramatic)
We are trash
We take up too much space
No one speaks up for us
We are the immigrants who stole your jobs
Who built your jobs
Oh, how you forget history
You turned away Jewish refugees and sent them back to Europe
Sent them back to the camps they had run from
But they were so close, waiting on the beaches of Florida
Full of hope, America would save them
You would save them
L: But we are a threat, aren't we?
K: That justifies it, right?
B: We are spies, a danger to national security
We were
We are
Scary
Dangerous
Foreign
*pause*
But aren't we all your children?
Hawa: It is time to make amends
*long pause*
Knock, knock, knock… (stomp and knock at the same time)
We’re still here.

#bnv2016
#bnv2016poem