This song is a call for help dedicated to those who cannot speak for themselves. They who are behind cages, cold, hungry, alone, inconsolable & separated from their loved ones. They have no more tears to cry. From the bombed courtyards of Aleppo to the streets of Berlin & the detention centers in Texas — for the child refugees of the world.
First they came for the refugees, and I did not speak out —
Because I was not a refugee.
Then they came for their children, and I did not speak out —
Because my children were safe at home.
Then they came for the people of color, and I did not speak out —
Because I was not a person of color.
Then they came for the women, and I did not speak out —
Because I was not a woman.
Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.
Steel blue eyes, hostile, devoid of compassion
Derisive laughter as tired, brown faces cross the border
Black, brown, gay & transgender, they too God’s own children
Once a melting pot in a nation so great!
Stirring conversations, a meld of cultures
Where is that city, once shining upon a hill?
The weak, the poor, the sick & the frail
No hospice so humble, to tend to their needs
Hushed & subdued, the spring is silent
The remaining few tread softly, hiding in the shadows
Where there once was a speech of freedom & hope
Mothers cry, children separated
“You will meet them again”, they say, as they are taken away
Many once gone, never to see loved ones again
Behind cages the young stare lifelessly at the distance
Is it our reflection we see in those scared, hopeless eyes?
