{"id":6129,"date":"2018-06-21T08:29:31","date_gmt":"2018-06-21T15:29:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=6129"},"modified":"2018-06-21T08:34:19","modified_gmt":"2018-06-21T15:34:19","slug":"denise-levertov-the-depths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2018\/06\/21\/denise-levertov-the-depths\/","title":{"rendered":"Denise Levertov – The Depths (Separation of Immigrant Families)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Depths
\nby Denise Levertov<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

When the white fog burns off,
\nthe abyss of everlasting light
\nis revealed. The last cobwebs
\nof fog in the
\nblack fir trees are flakes
\nof white ash in the world\u2019s hearth.<\/p>\n

Cold of the sea is counterpart
\nto this great fire. Plunging
\nout of the burning cold of ocean
\nwe enter an ocean of intense
\nnoon. Sacred salt
\nsparkles on our bodies.<\/p>\n

After mist has wrapped us again
\nin fine wool, may the taste of salt
\nrecall to us the great depths about us.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a> \u2014 from The Jacob\u2019s Ladder<\/a>, by Denise Levertov<\/font><\/p>\n


\/ Image by Arathrim<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

A reminder of light and the depths of the great ocean of life\u2026<\/p>\n

=<\/p>\n

Like many of you, I have been preoccupied by the recent news of the forcible separation of children from their families in the US. I have felt for a long time that US policies toward immigration, legal and illegal, are racist and brutal. That has been true under both Democratic and Republican administrations. But it has taken an unconscionably cruel turn with the Trump administration\u2019s forcible separation of children from their families, with no provision to reunite these traumatized families.<\/p>\n

This is no less than institutionalized child abuse on a massive scale. The way we treat children and the vulnerable is a fundamental measure of our collective social morality. If you are a US citizen like me, that is a crime done in our name. And, if we are silent, it is done with our tacit approval.<\/p>\n

There has been a partial sigh of relief that the outcry prompted an apparent reversal of the child separation policies. But while the news stories may begin to shift to other topics, be cautious in assuming that this latest offense is resolved.<\/p>\n

My understanding is that forced family separations may still occur, just with a bureaucratic delay added. Also this latest change in government policy has a Trojan horse hidden within it: Many people don\u2019t realize this, but crossing the border without legal documentation has at worst been classified as a misdemeanor offense in the US. This policy change now makes undocumented border crossing a felony. In other words, families desperately seeking asylum must first deal with the criminal justice system, because they have had to commit a major \u201ccrime\u201d simply to seek safety.<\/p>\n

Others have said it before me, but if we as a nation are concerned with immigration, than we should change our military and economic policies to not create immigrant crises. When an immigrant arrives, especially without formal documentation, it is always out of desperation. That always, always deserves a compassionate response. If that creates problems in other ways, then we accept those problems and deal with them in responsible, practical ways, as any decent society should.<\/p>\n

With the current patterns of politics, economics, and climate change, immigrant issues and refugee crises are likely to remain major concerns in the world. If you are looking for more ways you can help, here are a few organizations doing courageous work in the world worth connecting to and contributing to.<\/p>\n

Kids in Need of Defense (KIND)
\nsupportkind.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Women\u2019s Refugee Commission
\nhttps:\/\/www.womensrefugeecommission.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP)
\nhttps:\/\/asylumadvocacy.org<\/a><\/p>\n

=<\/p>\n

may the taste of salt
\nrecall to us the great depths about us.<\/i><\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Denise Levertov<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Denise Levertov: Selected Poems<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nPoems of Denise Levertov: 1960-1967<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nBreathing the Water<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThe Great Unknowing: Last Poems<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nCandles in Babylon<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
More Books >><\/a><\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n\n\n
\n\"Denise<\/a>\n<\/td>\n\nDenise Levertov<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

US (1923 \u2013 1997) Timeline<\/a>
\nSecular or Eclectic<\/a> : Beat<\/a>
\nJewish<\/a><\/a><\/em>\n<\/td>\n

<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

More poetry by Denise Levertov<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Depths by Denise Levertov When the white fog burns off, the abyss of everlasting light is revealed. The last cobwebs of fog in the black fir trees are flakes of white ash in the world\u2019s hearth. Cold of the sea is counterpart to this great fire. Plunging out of the burning cold of ocean […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[195,2180,2179,60,527,2181,2178,2177],"class_list":["post-6129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-denise-levertov","tag-depths","tag-immigrant-families","tag-light","tag-ocean","tag-salt","tag-separation-of-children","tag-separation-of-families"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6129"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6133,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6129\/revisions\/6133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}