Don’t call us migrants
Call us pilgrims
And pray
That we might father
A new nation
We are not aliens
We are Abraham
Who smelled on the wind
A different future
And slept in tents
To dream of its arrival
Our fragile craft
Is more than just a dinghy
It is a Mayflower
A vessel of hope
Delivering the desperate
To their destiny
We who flee persecution
Who run from poverty
Who carry in our trembling hands
The hopes of many
We who brave your borders
And conquer your mountains
Who see in your land
The possibilities
You have lost sight of
We who fall
Like spent athletes
On your shores
Who kneel like Columbus
On your unnamed beaches
We who believe in the promise
Of a world made well
We are you
We are your fathers
We are the dreams
You have forgotten
Don’t call us migrants
Call us pilgrims
And pray
That we might father
A new nation
Copyright © 2020 Gerard Kelly