The Neighborhood

If your neighbor came knocking
Wearing no shoes
While snowing outside
What would you do?

And your neighbor's neighbor?
And that neighbor's friend?
Would you bring them inside
Or let the neighborhood end?

When the masses are huddled
And their feet are cold
Would you lend them your shoes
Or send them back to the fold?

Would you see yourself
In a proud desperate father?
Would you see your child
In the eyes of his daughter?

Or would you squeeze your eyes shut
And build up a wall
Throw them back to the tempest
Think not of their fall?

When the golden door closes
'Cause charlatans fear it
We lower the flame
And burn out our spirit

When the door is left open
And a welcome is gifted
We step forward together
And the flame is lifted

Those who fear wolves
Will enter the tower
Laid a blood carpet
That led wolves to power

They tell you they're righteous
Gold rings on their hand
The Book is their rock
But they're made of sand

They read divine words
Say lift up the poor
But deceive you when asked
Why they shut their doors

They'll call you a liar
An iconoclast
But are not the last first
And are not the first last?

Does a mother not nurture
A father not teach
If they come from a land
You can't see or reach?

Are they not woven by

By the same fabric as you

Even when dyed in

Different colors and hues?

Does blood not run red
From beginning to end
Inside your neighbor's neighbor
And that neighbor's friend?

The blood carpet layers

Should ponder a query

While concluding the fate

Of the homeless and weary

If you were stuck in the snow

Feet cold and blue
At the door of your neighbor
What should they do?