The United States In Statues

Are we still the New Colossus? Perhaps it is a symbol of a bygone era, a mentality lost to time like the subject of the poem Ozymandias. Are the ideals of our Lady Liberty crumbling away as time passes her by in that lonely harbor? Is her light that guides those “tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free” dimming? She once stood proud and defiant against the tyranny and darkness of the world. She once proclaimed defiantly that we, a nation of immigrants, will welcome those who are fleeing from the wicked tides that surges and consumes the innocent.

Has her land changed as much as that of the King of Kings? Has her kingdom crumbled away? Not in the dunes as with Ozymandias, but rather a more internal dilemma. Rather than the barrenness of the Sahara, can it be that our hearts have been left barren and eclipsed by egocentricity? To take care of merely ourselves, to think that the only way for our society to have peace is to hide behind walls and wait till those seeking asylum are subdued. We do not have any right to treat our brothers and sisters seeking salvation with such degradation.

Like the sands of time that plagued Ozymandias, the sands of rancor plague our minds and our hearts—grain by grain—slowly piling up on top of ourselves. We have lost our way in the shadows; can we find our way back into the light of liberty?

In the poem Ozymandias, the statue embellishes the empire that the king once ruled: “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!”

In our current situation, those in power exude hubris and we must tread lightly for pride goes before the fall.

If those in power continue to ignore the signs that we are affecting our planet, we might fall into not only an internal desolation, but also an external one.

These trials and tribulations that we face today can be the genesis of a new age. A period in which we see the extinction of the malevolence that has plagued us for so long and stretch out our hand to unite. Lady Liberty stands at a golden gate waiting for us to pass through this new age of enlightenment. We may stumble and we may falter, but we have a propensity to learn from our aberrations. We must see past our labels of nationality, color, religion and sexuality to see that we are equal. Lady Liberty shall be waiting and holding her light out to guide us through.