By Detelina Stoykova

Contributor

I will hitchhike a ship-
Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria
Anyone who can take me–Mayday!
To get out of this island of fear
Toward which they once fearlessly sailed…
I will hitchhike a ship–
Apollo, Discovery, Voyager
9,8,…0
Take me off and away!
To get out of this land
Which does not take a stand…
Which once sent them with hope into space.

I will hitchhike a ship–
Titanic, Black Pearl, Moby Dick
Take me far from this side of Paradise,
Where once all those stories were passionately made,
Which now shrieks back in cowardice.

Who am I?
I’m a girl who came young to this land
With those same hopes and the dreams that they had–
Who discovered the land,
Who sent ships into space,
Who created the stories we read,

Read the stories across
A heavy thick wall,
Iron Curtain,
you may recall,
That curtained our wings
And clipped our souls
And told us that we must obey.
But we didn’t.
We came to the land of our dreams
Which accepted us open and free
And we built our homes
And we had our kids
Who say proudly
The pledge every day.

With a hand to our hearts
Teary-eyed we swore
To be part of this land
And the dream…

Now one morning appalled
We found out that wall
Is being erected within…

Within families, states
Between friends and play mates
Between countries and
Islands and space…
They’d been building that wall
Only we didn’t know
And now faced with the fear and threat…

I am packing my home
I am packing my child
An American child that is,
I am going to hike
To the Liberty top
I am trying to pick up a ride…