by Julie Kramer
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| Immigrant families wait in May 2019 in Los Ebanos, Tex., to be searched and taken to a U.S. Border Patrol station after they were caught illegally crossing into the United States from Mexico. Credit: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post, October 23, 2020 |
“Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” —Matthew 19:14
You put them in cages
and arm their enemies with AK47s
You take away their food
and say that it is for their own good
You dirty their air and water
and point to it as progress
You make their world uninhabitable
and call their cries a hoax
You let your police
murder them in their beds
and say they deserved it
You punish their governors
for standing up for them
You take away their families’ health insurance
and say it’s in service of freedom
You beat them in the streets
because they challenge your authority
You promise them relief
and present it to the rich
You insult their allies
and sell out their friends
You sit by as they die of a dread disease
saying it will just... go away
You defile and debase
the halls of their government
with petty criminals and yes men
You make their lives less sane, less safe, and less free
You think that their God is sleeping
do not be deceived
God will bring about his justice
through the least of things
Including teenage TikTokers
small dollar donations
absentee ballots
and subpoenas.
Julie Kramer is a molecular biologist, lay minister, marketer, and mom of three teenagers living in Madison, Wisconsin. In 2012, she made the unforeseen and disconcerting discovery that she is also a poet. Her themes include family, religion, #me too, and current events. She has had previous work published in the Journal of Women and Religion, and the Wisconsin UCC Conference newsletter.