“Immigration – A Modest Proposal”

by Mel Glenn (Brooklyn, NY)

Let’s start off with the Muslims, shall we?
They’re all terrorists, you know,
everyone carrying high-powered rifles.
Then we go after the Jews.
They’re not to be trusted, you know;
besides they’re used to being persecuted.
Next come the Catholics.
They’re all puppets of the Pope, you know,
and their priests molest small children.
The Statue of Liberty now hangs her head,
awash in a sea of red vitriol.
Emma Lazarus rewrites the words of her poem,
and Neil Diamond chokes on the lyrics of his song,
as the man in the silk tie calls the political shots.
Make sure we all gather on the shore line
with barbed wire and protest signs,
declaring that nobody else shall enter
because we were here first,
and after all, this is our America, nobody else’s.

The author of twelve books for young adults, Mel Glenn has lived nearly all his life in Brooklyn, NY, where he taught English at A. Lincoln High School for thirty-one years.  Lately, he’s been writing poetry, and you can find his most recent poems in the YA anthology, This Family Is Driving Me Crazy, edited by M. Jerry Weiss.