Turn (Monday Poem)

by George Ella Lyon


I'm neither black nor white but it's my March
too.  My March because in Los Angeles
in the spring of 1942, I walked out of
an art class, out of my life, and onto
a bus, bound for an internment
camp with all my family.
Japanese-American
threat was how
they saw us:
120,000
folks
about half
the number
who fill this
mile-long Mall.
Listen.  Our country
takes very wrong turns
and counts on you and me
to set it right.  In most countries
citizens can't do that, but here it's
our job -- to steer toward justice together.



from Voices from the March on Washington Poems by J. Patrick Lewis and George Ella Lyon, 2014, WordSong