The Mother of Exiles

Photo by UNHCR UN Refugee Agency

Have you ever read the complete poem by Emma Lazarus entitled "The New Colossus"?  It is engraved upon the base of the Statue of Liberty.  I read it again the other day in light of the growing Syrian refugee crisis and was deeply moved.  In case you have never read it, take a moment now to reflect upon Lazarus' incredible words:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. 

From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"