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Editor, Asbury Park Sun,

 

We Will Survive

 

America, America

What have you done?

The battle for many

I thought was won.

 

We fought for our rights

And found much success.

But now it is murky

As we ponder this mess.

 

All of us immigrants

But what have we learned?

Walls, fear and hatred,

Is that what we’ve earned?

 

Disdain for the “different”,

Faith, gender, color.

What happened to love

For our sister and brother?

 

Contempt for the captive,

Our mothers and wives.

Rip parents from families,

They we despise?

 

Reporters are blocked,

The disabled are scorned.

But what do we do?

Yes, we were warned!

 

We chose someone vicious,

Demagogue no less.

Surrounded by toadies

Who always say “yes”.

 

A respecter of laws?

No, he is not.

But for personal gain

He employs them a lot.

 

Our own P.T. Barnum,

A huckster, a clown.

Who lives in the spirit

“A sucker born every minute.”

 

Most clowns are funny,

This one is not.

Behind that black mask

Lurks a villain, a despot.

 

Yes, we have chosen,

Unwisely I fear.

So what do we do

As we strive year by year?

 

Recall “huddled masses”

Who’ve thrived on our shores.

Never forget them,

Our proud ancestors.

 

They gained independence

And fought for our rights,

Through wars and Depression,

Falling towers and sad blight.

 

They dealt with some tyrants

And so too can we

As we fight the false prophet

To insure we are free…

 

To love who we please

And respect all we know.

The stranger, the “outcast”

Is never our foe.

 

America, our America,

We will not fall

As long as we demand

Peace and justice for all.

 

David Van Buskirk

Lynn Drive, Ocean Township

[This letter represents the opinion of its writer and is not representative of any opinion of the Asbury Park Sun staff. All readers are welcome to submit Letters to the Editor to news@asburyparksun.com for our consideration. For guidelines on letter-writing and submission, click here.]

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