Citing the Bible

       The tent of our forefather Abraham
       had four doors, so anyone could enter;
       no matter where he came from.
                  —Rhoda Lerman

In Genesis 18, we find Abraham sitting in front of his tent, which  tradition tells us was open on all sides so  that he could welcome strangers coming from any direction.
      — Howard Schwartz


today we held signs, listened to speakers, marched, applauded those who urged us to implore our government to unite children separated from their parents at the border

in a small town a crowd gathered around a bandstand and listened
some sat on the grass, most stood, and a few brought lawn chairs
handmade signs
a few flags
some buttons
a psychologist spoke about separation anxiety facing those children

a little girl with a floppy pink hat sat on the grass playing with a toy —unaware that there were people all over this country gathered, unaware of why they held handmade signs or listened to speakers

then the little girl with the floppy pink hat stood up, turned around and for a fleeting moment didn’t spot her mother

the speaker continued speaking, but over her voice we heard a small child’s voice— mommy, mommy, mommy—