Dean Traylor is a freelance writer and teacher who writes about various subjects including education and creative writing.

That’s who we are.

That’s what we’ve become.

Forget nobility.

Forget honor.

Forget morality.

We struggled with the shackles

when we should have

taken them off

and threw them

far, far away.

We struggled with internment

when we should have

shuttered them

and leveled them

long, long ago.

We struggled with segregation.

We struggled with equality.

We struggled with union.

We struggled to see

that we were one

all this time.

And now comes separation

that we see in the face

of a crying child new to this harsh land.

We say, collectively,

“That’s not who we are.”

But

This is us…

No, it doesn’t have to be

Us.

Strive we must,

for what we want to be.

And tear down the things

that gets in the way of that dream.

Open the golden door

we strive for

and make us

who we want to be.

So, we can finally say:

“That’s who we are.”

No Questions

Just surety.

© 2018 Dean Traylor

Comments

Virginia Allain from Central Florida on October 28, 2018:

The protests of the people slowed this down. The courts and the ACLU are doing their best to clean it up. Trump and his Nazi cohort, Stephen Miller, are ready for another round of "lock up the children." I can't believe that I live in an America that does things like this.

Mr. Happy from Toronto, Canada on August 28, 2018:

"Open the golden door

we strive for

and make us

who we want to be" - I like these lines. I always tell people that we can create the world we wish to have but we have to work at it. We have to get involved and stay involved. We live in the world which we created. Like You wrote: "That’s who we are".

I hear that the first step in overcoming alcoholism, one has to first admit that they are an alcoholic. So, You have the awareness and admission. It's a good first step. The problem is that many people deny that there is a problem. Even worse some think the problem is the children, or their parents who are searching for a better life, safer, with more opportunities. Thus, let's cage them. Some people got their problems and priorities up-side-down.

I'm not that good at reading poems but thank You for this one. I appreciate it. All the best!

Jo Miller from Tennessee on July 06, 2018:

Great poem, Dean. I am encouraged by the loud and persistent protests of late that appeal to the "better angels of our nature".

Mark Tulin from Ventura, California on June 30, 2018:

Beautiful. I share your sentiment whole heartedly.