A Fourth of July Reminder

The Los Angeles Times today included a link from the Poetry Foundation, of poems that were appropriate for the Fourth of July.  I read the first one, "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus, and was deeply moved. I realize that my friends do not need to be reminded of what the United States is supposed to stand for, but perhaps there are members of the present administration that need a reminder. I am including a photograph of the head of the Statue of Liberty from a photo essay I did in 1986 after the statue was renovated. I felt that perhaps this photograph carries some of the power of the Emma Lazarus poem.

The New Colossus

By Emma Lazarus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”