I hear America singing: a lamentation

Where are you, Walt Whitman, Woodie Guthrie?

I hear America singing, the varied lamentations I hear.
I hear America singing, sorrowful dirges,
Singing for the carpenter yanked from his car,
Singing for the waitress whisked out the back door,
Singing for the campesino dragged out of the field.
I hear America singing the song of deportees.

I hear America singing, the varied lamentations I hear.
I hear America singing, atonal wailing,
Singing for children packed onto airplanes,
Singing for women in cells with open toilets,
Singing for students who no longer dare dream,
I hear America singing the song of deportees.

I hear America singing, the varied lamentations I hear.
I hear America singing, keening and sobbing,
Singing for the shop keeper taken from her bodega,
Singing for the refugee hiding in a warehouse,
Singing for the dark men flown to far prisons.
I hear America singing the song of deportees.

I hear America singing, the varied lamentations I hear.
I hear America singing, mewling in her sleep,
Crying for her children set down in a strange land,
Crying for old men forever in exile,
Crying for mothers who can’t feed their babies.
I hear America singing the song of deportees.

Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye, Rosalita,
So long Jean Louis, Alim, Emmanuella
Farewell Yasmin, Noor and Amina,
Don’t go, Baghish, Esin and Ariana,
Please stay, Borislav, Alina and Dimitri,
We’ll miss you Minjun, Kwan and Dasom.

Listen now as we sing your names,
Sing the names of our dear deportees.