It’s better not to know.
If you knew, how would you stand it?
It’s better not to cry.
If you start, how would you stop?
George Ella Lyon
George Ella Lyon’s recent poetry collections include She Let Herself Go, Many-Storied House and Voices from the March on Washington, co-written with J. Patrick Lewis. A freelance writer and teacher, Lyon is particularly interested in the poetry of witness. She served as Kentucky Poet Laureate (2015-2016). She is the co-founder, with Julie Landsman, of the I Am From Project, a national project to gather new poetry in response to the troubled state of the nation. See more at https://iamfromproject.com/about/.
Where I’m From 2018
I’m from the cries of families/ sundered at our southern border/ while Lady Liberty faces a filthy sea