I have a song.
Co-written with Emma Lazarus who wrote the chorus as part of her poem "The New Colossus" in 1883. 20 years later it was etched in bronze and mounted at the base of The Statue of Liberty. I felt these were important words to remember so I thought I would take a stab at putting it to music. I've been singing it with 2 verses but always felt a 3rd was missing. Inspired by the tragedy of Trayvon Martin and the inequality and disparity of justice afforded blacks in America. I wrote the third verse (2nd in the song).
I call it -
"A Better Life to Find"
Kind friends it is no matter of the past I left behind
I sailed the seas of distant lands A Better Life to Find
I'm the mother I'm the daughter I'm the father I'm the son
Who landed on your shore into your open arms
Chorus:
"Give me your tired your poor
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me
I lift my lamp beside the golden door"
My legs were bound in iron, my body bought and sold
Stolen from my home, thrown on a ship like cattle in the hold
I toiled for my master, a slave in this free land
But I'm still fighting for the right that we are all the same
Chorus
I crossed that mighty river it's called the Rio Grande
To pick your fruit and dig your crops, I worked my back and hands
Yeah, I worked your fields and factories and I've rambled all around
'Cause I'm just like you I'm looking for a place to settle down
Chorus