Poetry by Bryan Manabat
The Statue of Liberty stands unrecognizable.
Where once she welcomed immigrants with refuge and opportunity,
She now feels impenetrable,
Seeking vengeance, it seems, with impunity.
This is not the USA I know,
Where diversity and tolerance flow,
Where basic rights are allowed to grow,
And freedom of speech and expression glow.
This is not the USA I know,
Where tragedy is met with compassion,
Not harvested for entertainment and likes.
Where solutions rise from quiet resolve,
Not from political points that deepen division.
This stranger, USA —
Where Americans fight Americans,
Left and right with nowhere to go.
Where every voice strains to be heard,
Yet truth drifts, lost, nowhere to be found.
This is not the USA I know,
Where government exists to secure fundamental rights —
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Where the American spirit stands united against tyranny and oppression,
Not twisting freedom into a weapon of suppression.
And still, in the distance, a symbol refuses to fall —
A flag weathered by storms yet unbroken,
Its fabric whispering of what we once were
And what we might still become.
Above the noise, above the stranger we have met,
The American flag stands tall above all —
USA, the stranger.
Bryan Manabat was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College where he also studied criminal justice. He is the recipient of the NMI Humanities Award as an Outstanding Teacher (Non-Classroom) in 2013, and has worked for the CNMI Motheread/Fatheread Literacy Program as lead facilitator.
