A Gift from France

A myth like Ellis Island

needs a figurehead

like any other,

and this one turned out to be

the Statue of Liberty.

France sent it over

in recognition

of the revolution

and our special relationship

that endured

theirs

and other such turmoils,

but the statue

ended up meaning

nothing at all

about France

and everything

about the constant stream

of migrants,

the tired and poor,

yearning

to breathe free.

When someone wrote a song

about her shaking a fist,

that's when a lot of things

really started

to fall apart.