They Come Seeking Asylum Poem by Jim Yerman

What we're doing as a country is wrong, it's inhuman and it is cruel
I refer everyone to their religious texts…look up the Golden Rule…

It's not a matter of can we help…it hasn't been…from the start
It is a matter of how we help…it's a matter of the heart:


They come seeking asylum to a country not their own
They come seeking asylum…sometimes they come alone

Sometimes their parents bring them…fleeing conflict, war and and strife
Sometimes they send their children ahead…hoping for a better life.

They come seeking asylum…but our country is divided
Some of us think we should help…others think we are misguided.

So we stop them at our border…accusing them of sins
and we tell them to their faces…we're afraid to let you in.

And sometimes we take their children from them…and sometimes their children cry
And six times since we've started this…six times…children die.

They come seeking humanity…they'd love a place to live
They come seeking humanity…is that too much to give?

They come seeking compassion…once our border they have crossed
But they are looking for a feeling…I fear America has lost.

They come seeking asylum…but our country is divided
It certainly makes you wonder…which side is misguided.