We have not met,

but you are not a stranger to me

I’ve been hungry and cold

Like you are now

I have been homeless

 And slept in the rough

I have been penniless

And know how that feels

I have been filthy dirty

And washed in gas station bathrooms

I have bled onto folded up 

Paper towels 

tucked carefully into my panties

I have worked for less

Just to have something more than nothing

I have slept with men

For mere pleasure, and for survival

I have taken things that weren’t mine

And lost things that were

I have sought for knowledge

And know that ignorance truly is bliss

I have walked a thousand miles

Carrying all I owned on my back

I have foraged for food in dumpsters

To feed my hungry belly

I’ve lived under the elements 

the moon the stars the winter storms

With nothing but a nylon sheet 

between me and infinity

I’ve made promises I knew 

I couldn’t keep in order to be safe 

for just one night

just one more day

I speak the language yet 

I can barely begin to comprehend 

what drives people?

from their homes, their countries, 

and all they’ve ever known and loved?

to walk 1000 miles or more, 

carrying their crying hungry children 

step after relentless foot step 

bringing them finally 

to the gates of Paradise- America!

I pray I will never 

be made to undergo 

the terror

that leads a parent to know 

their child is safer 

in a concentration camp 

in a cage

than they are at home

in their country they must now flee

I have been many things, 

felt many things

I am not, and have never been 

a refugee seeking

safe haven, a chance at life

in a far away land

a reprieve from death

in a drink of water

I am a refugee in my own country

tempest tossed

welcoming a return to terra firma

yearning to breathe free

seeking sanity 

a lifted lamp 

a golden door 

to liberty, civility

to decency & normalcy

to truth & dignity & justice.

Yes, justice!

Justice for All.