WHAT "THE STATUE OF LIBERTY" MEANS TO ME

Iced mochas and swim-suit magazines
schools full of energetic green-mohawked teens:
John Lennon flashing a peace sign

Germans listening to French techno on the Rhine,
controversial poets and artists
being allowed to shine

German fashionistas making waves in France,
Saudis, Syrians and Iranians at American universities
discussing Shakespeare and Pushkin,
teaching their culture to yankees,
learning to dance

Netherlanders peacably drinking mushroom tea,
entrepreneurs creating jets
delicacies and green technology,
worthy Sacagawea and MLK on yankee currency

That famous torch we saw from the ferry,
the winding stairs I climbed as a kid
long before politics, lovers, or cares

Made of Norwegian steel
and bestowed by an emperor,
she nonetheless stands tall
in our imaginations:
a symbol of a dream
(for which noble men and women
have tried, cried, and died,)

that from Sweden to Zaire,
from Thailand to Kyrgyzstan to Cuba,
there may someday
be peace and liberty