Hmmm. What’s the best way to set up my poem about immigration and the Statue of Liberty– a poem that was just published? Should I …
- …share it in light of today’s anniversary — the Statue of Liberty was dedicated on this date in 1886!
- …share it in honor of my immigrant family members, since it seems to be the season of immigrant-bashing in some quarters?
- …share it because it’s a new poetry form I’m trying out (“the golden shovel”), a form that’s fun to play with and fun to teach.
I’ll try to roll all those elements into one intro. I wrote “Family Stories” in the voice of a teen who’s not afraid to question or challenge the family narratives about immigration. (It was fun to write, as I was a very rule-following teen!) The speaker in this poem is grappling with two clashing perspectives: one is “hey, our ancestors were immigrants who came here seeking a better life.” At the same time, the elders in the family are bashing immigration, something that’s creating dissonance for this teen.
The golden shovel is a fun poetic form to play with! The poet weaves a line from a famous/loved/other poem into a new poem… the ending of each line, when read vertically, is the line from another poem. For “Family Stories,” I incorporated a line from the poem at the base of the Statue of Liberty, “The New Colossus,” by Emma Lazarus.
FAMILY STORIES
~after Emma Lazarus
You keep telling these old family stories– give
me a break. They can’t all be saints. Don’t tell me
they all had perfect immigration papers, your
family tree. This noble narrative– it’s tired.
Are you really sure that your
relatives were so perfect? They were poor,
yes, and scrappy. Maybe they had no papers, your
ancestors! Now you all watch the news, huddled
together, saying that outsiders are coming in masses.
You talk about the old days with a yearning.
But who knows if your people– our family– came to
this country “the right way?” The just want to breathe,
the newcomers. Like us, they just want to be free.
~~
“Family Stories” is now published in JUST YA, a wonderful new anthology packed full of essays, stories, and poems, perfect for middle and high school. Each selection explores what justice means in different contexts. I chose the family context, and I honor the courage of my grandparents who made the leap and came to this country seeking a better life.
You can read more about JUST YA here. It is available for sale at online retatilers, and also as a free download! Read more about that here, and thanks for reading!