Publisher's Synopsis
One Poem translated into 50 different languages.
Along with the Poem are 50 different photographs from different locations around the United States.
Everyone is welcome in the United States.
I grew up in Elmhurst, New York. It is a small town within the City of New York. New York City is a city of towns. At one point, when I was 12 years old, Elmhurst, New York, was the most diverse community in the United States. We had at least one person from every country on Earth.
Here in the United States we have people who are indigenous, that is, their ancestors have been here for time immemorial. We have people who came here as explorers, settlers and for all sorts of reasons. Some people were transported here as slaves and others were compelled to come, and others came out of want and need, and others came for opportunity, and others to flee war and oppression. People have come here to seek religious freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of action and freedom to live their lives peaceably as they see fit. People have come here from all around the world seeking peace and shelter from harm and confusion.
I would like to visit many places around the world. I like where I live. I live in Michigan now, which is in the Midwest. It gets very cold here in the winter and very hot in the summer. The soil is good. The weather is variable. We get rain and snow and fog and drizzle and mist and dry times. We have good water, but it was polluted and now we are cleaning it up.
There is varied wildlife still here and we are trying to care for it. We have farms and fields and factories, churches, mosques, temples, meditation areas and places where people do not practice religion at all. We have libraries and schools and universities and lots of libraries.
This is one poem. One stream of ideas relating the care of one person to another. We all have ideas and we can all help each other. Please consider that as you read the poem in your language and look at the photos or have them described to you if you cannot see with your eyes.
Not all of our languages are represented here. Just 50 of the ones we humans are speaking now. I hope your language is in here and for everyone else your language is in my heart. I may not be able to speak it but I can understand it.
I want to understand it. I want to understand you.
