A Paraphrase
By the rivers of the Rio Grande, there we sat down and wept when we remembered our homeland.
Upon the sands of the desert we laid down our burdens.
For there are captors demanded of us documentation and our tormentors required proof, saying:
"Prove to me that you fled your homeland because someone was trying to kill you."
How can I show them the terror of my children as guns were pointed to our heads? How can I show them the coercion we faced at the hands of our oppressors?
Oh, America, doomed for destruction! How happy are they who do to you what you did to us! How happy are they who take away your children and lock them in cages!
An interpretation of Psalm 137 from the view of asylum seekers to the United States.
photo credit: Daniel Arauz 2018/11/23 Ten days old Asylum Seekers arrives in Tijuana, Mexico via photopin (license)
