Baby Jesu

Your family sought refuge

in an unfamiliar place..

A place that shouted

Your unwelcome... 

While you slumbered

within your mother’s belly, 

they walked for weeks, days

through dangerous lands

stopping only when borders

Or labor pains

Demanded. 

She could go no further.

Desperate for sanctuary,

your mother prepared to

Scream and push

you into the world ...

wherever hospitable.

But border patrol claimed

No Room at the Inn...

ignored her plight, her 

sacred vulnerability,

forgetting...

we all begin this way. 

While wearing crosses 

over their hearts,

they shunned

this joyous Eve...

Unable to receive

their own

Rebirth. 

——-

*reflections on the current immigration policy ofthe United States, turning away, arresting/interning, or deporting immigrants/refugees (2019) from Mexico, Central America, South America (at the Mexican-American border). 

*photo credit: Raul Gonzalez, a Mexican-American muralist (activist artist) based in Los Angeles, working to preserve Chicano history. https://mictlanmurals.com/