I was given to you as a gift

wrapped to impress I came to you after months of tedious stress

I straightened my hair and my nose to make myself worth your time

It worked from the smile you had when I arrived

you looked at me with such love in your eyes, the type of love I thought would never die

you showed me around town

I represented your strength and your tolerance for those not like you

I guided the tired, and the poor 

I gave breath to those who could not breath under the weight of their past

with me they sighed relief 

I lit fires that warmed hearts

I fueled them with an oil called the Will of Men, I lit them with a match called Humanity

you spoke about me with sincerity that eased the pain of holding your torch

I was proud to represent you to millions

proud to call you mine

but with my age came wisdom

and with your just time

I was supposed to be the one standing still as life bustled by

yet you sit in your prejudice and hate

and it seems like you will never live up to the greatness that burns somewhere within

because you still judge people by their skin. 

 

I'm older 

faded by life’s seasons

my arms are heavy with the weight of your expectation

the island you gave me is really a cage

you put me here so you wouldn’t have to look into my peaceful eyes

I changed my face, yet you still disgrace me

the thought of what I stand for frightens you 

Yet I haven’t changed but you have, your words hardly match your actions

or maybe they never had 

maybe it took me years to see you clearly 

but I won’t waste another on you, while you preach freedom for all but only grant it to a few. 

 

-Love, Lady Liberty