We all came here tired and hungry and poor
we spent lifetimes in the factories
but dreamed of so much more
now the only jobs are in Afghanistan
fighting in this endless war
and America is tired, and hungry, and poor
and the factories have been boarded up
or turned into brew-pubs and cafes
and the grandchildren take their anger out
on black people, Jews, and gays
and we want to build a wall now
like the one we bought in Palestine
keeping brown people on the other side
thinking then things will be fine
and tax-exempt Christian preachers
pretend that Jesus Christ would say
that these human beings are illegal,
so we must turn them away
though, if he were here today,
he’d be with that caravan
and he’d be breaking bread with farmers
on some mountain in Afghanistan
he’d be burying all of Yemen’s dead
killed by Saudi-dropped, US bombs
he certainly wouldn’t be in a church
just mindlessly singing psalms
he’d be with the people of Gaza
he’d be helping them to stand
he’d remind the US Border Patrol
that this is all stolen land
and that we all came here tired,
and hungry, and poor
and the rich have grown richer
putting locks on all our doors
exploiting us in factories
and sacrificing us in their wars
now there’s opiates instead of factories
and prisons instead of jobs
we all came here with nothing
but still we wound up robbed
they took a lifetime of our labor
they took our dreams, our blood, and sweat
and that I ever pledged allegiance
is my life’s biggest regret
because we’re covering the planet
with pipelines, plastic, and war
and no one’s going to save us now
there’s no use praying anymore
we’ve made the whole world tired,
and hungry, and poor
and you can keep on funding it,
but I won’t give them a penny more
soitgoes1984 