Over 2,300 children have been separated from their parents at the US border (source).
Photo by US Customs and Border Patrol
I want to dedicate the following poem by Maya Angelou to these children who have been maliciously separated from their parents at the border. What the US government is doing is evil and it is child abuse. These policies are inhumane and only demonstrate that politicians and their supporters will stop at nothing, not even the incarceration of children, to protect an economic status quo of greed and mediocrity.
Caged Bird
Maya Angelou
A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.
But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn
and he names the sky his own
But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
Source: Poetry Foundation