LADY LIBERTY, DAY ONE Gerry Spehar As we mark this trip around the Sun As day two is conceived on this day one As we swear and inaugurate As we mark this move to hope from hate In our hearts a Golden Gate A dream that makes us great As needs become seeds As weeds become deeds She holds her torch, her golden flame She sings and shivers in our pain Give me your tired, your poor The wretched refuse of your teeming shore Your huddled masses yearning to be free Send these homeless, tempest tossed to me I lift my lamp beside the golden door Give me your tired, your poor On this day doom, his final day Are we to gloom, to look away Or call to right, to stand and fight To march with him in sight, day and night To speak her name To keep her flame To hold her core from shore to shore As we make this trip around the Sun With Lady Liberty, day one She holds her torch, her golden flame She sings and shivers in our pain Give me your tired, your poor The wretched refuse of your teeming shore Your huddled masses yearning to be free Send these homeless, tempest tossed to me I lift my lamp beside the golden door Give me your tired, your poor Freedom. It’s just a shout away

LAURA DEAN Gerry Spehar Laura Dean, stop the machine, walk away Laura Dean took off her wedding ring and laid it by the stove Grabbed her blues and went to work, crying as she drove Turns the TV on in a quiet room, tries to keep her warm Gets the kids on Zoom to say goodbye before their Grandma’s gone In a plastic mask and PPE through tears she cannot see Laura Dean moves in a dream to the beep of a machine She talks to her Creator, asking Him to shine a light Sits down, takes her hand and says goodnight When death is off the charts, when it’s eating at your heart When there’s nothing you can do or say, when the cavalry is MIA When they come at you in bunches and you’re just following hunches Laura Dean, it’s not your fault, walk away Laura Dean, stop the machine and walk away Like an ass through Jerusalem on a Sunday far away In a Rose Garden in Washington on Crucifixion Day He walks up to the podium to tell the USA Go fill up your churches, don’t worry about the wretches Laura Dean pulls the plug and starts to pray As he fights with the press, points his finger, beats his chest In a frozen truck in a parking lot they lay her down to rest Across a thousand miles of prayer, Grandkids wish they could be there Laura Dean sits by another bed, stroking someone else’s hair When death is off the charts, when it’s eating at your heart When there’s nothing you can do or say, when the cavalry is MIA When they come at you in bunches and you’re rolling with the punches Laura Dean, you’re not to blame, walk away Laura Dean, stop the machine, walk away So here’s to happiness, peace, love and all the rest And here’s to those who give their all and do their best To brave this stormy weather, to help us come together Laura Dean, you meet the test, walk away Laura Dean, stop the machine, walk away

IMMIGRANT SUITE BARRIER REEF Gerry & Susan Spehar, Bobby Allison Maria took her daughter up to the border Squeezed her little hand Fifteen hundred dollars to a young coyote Loaded her in a van Make it to your Papa in Fairfax, Virginia Out of this murderous land Go on, you need a barrier reef Shelter from grief Dive to its colors And find relief You need a barrier reef She caught the immigrant Beast Guadalajara up to the Rio Grande A river of lost children and mothers Heading for the Promised Land Papa and Grandpa swam this same river of hope She can feel them pulling On a long, long, long, long rope Singing you need a barrier reef Shelter from grief Dive to its colors And find relief You need a barrier reef He used to fish its waters when she was a little girl She would swim to the coral and see a beautiful world And sing you are my barrier reef Shelter from grief I dive to your colors To find relief I dive to your colors To find belief You are my barrier reef Barrier reef BOY AND BEAST Gerry Spehar Enrique grabs a ladder in the Mexican night Pulls himself up on the Beast and holds on tight Wrapped around a railing as the stars roll by He pulls out a picture and starts to cry The men in the boxcar, he steals them smokes To buy their protection because he’s twelve and he’s broke All along the watchtower he hears the screams Of long cold rails and burning dreams Sailing, sailing Away, away Sailing, I’m sailing Away, away He holds a scrap of paper with his Mama’s phone In the state of Los Angeles where he hopes this Beast is going He tears it up and keeps her number in his head Where no one can find it and nobody’s dead Falling into emptiness Falling out of loneliness Away, away Running out of fear Running out of time Away, away Sailing, sailing Away, away I’m sailing, sailing Away, away MEET ME AT THE MOON Gerry & Christine Spehar She was afraid when the night came on And darkness would rule the world So we would sing this little song When she was a little girl Nos vemos en la luna, Querida Nos vemos en la noche de luna Nos vemos en la luna, Papa Nos vemos en la luz de la luna I couldn’t make enough money There wasn’t no work in town I had to leave on that long sad train Up to the picking grounds I couldn’t wait for the whistle to blow Tell me the day was done I couldn’t wait to call her up So we could sing on the phone Nos vemos en la luna, Querida Nos vemos en la noche de luna Nos vemos en la luna, Papa Nos vemos en la luz de la luna How was your day, Papa? What did you do? When do you think I will get to see you again? She was beautiful, twelve years old They wouldn’t leave her alone We were planning to send her up north to me She never made it home How was your day, Papa? What did you do? When do you think I will get to see you again? Nos vemos en la luna, Querida Nos vemos en la noche de luna Nos vemos en la luna, Papa Nos vemos en la luz de la luna Meet me at the moon tonight

BARRIER REEF Gerry & Susan Spehar, Bobby Allison Maria took her daughter up to the border Squeezed her little hand Fifteen hundred dollars to a young coyote Loaded her in a van Make it to your Papa in Fairfax, Virginia Out of this murderous land Go on, you need a barrier reef Shelter from grief Dive to its colors And find relief You need a barrier reef She caught the immigrant Beast Guadalajara up to the Rio Grande A river of lost children and mothers Heading for the Promised Land Papa and Grandpa swam this same river of hope She can feel them pulling On a long, long, long, long rope Singing you need a barrier reef Shelter from grief Dive to its colors And find relief You need a barrier reef He used to fish its waters when she was a little girl She would swim to the coral and see a beautiful world And sing you are my barrier reef Shelter from grief I dive to your colors To find relief I dive to your colors To find belief You are my barrier reef Barrier reef

BOY AND BEAST Gerry Spehar Enrique grabs a ladder in the Mexican night Pulls himself up on the Beast and holds on tight Wrapped around a railing as the stars roll by He pulls out a picture and starts to cry The men in the boxcar, he steals them smokes To buy their protection because he’s twelve and he’s broke All along the watchtower he hears the screams Of long cold rails and burning dreams Sailing, sailing Away, away Sailing, I’m sailing Away, away He holds a scrap of paper with his Mama’s phone In the state of Los Angeles where he hopes this Beast is going He tears it up and keeps her number in his head Where no one can find it and nobody’s dead Falling into emptiness Falling out of loneliness Away, away Running out of fear Running out of time Away, away Sailing, sailing Away, away I’m sailing, sailing Away, away

MEET ME AT THE MOON Gerry & Christine Spehar She was afraid when the night came on And darkness would rule the world So we would sing this little song When she was a little girl Nos vemos en la luna, Querida Nos vemos en la noche de luna Nos vemos en la luna, Papa Nos vemos en la luz de la luna I couldn’t make enough money There wasn’t no work in town I had to leave on that long sad train Up to the picking grounds I couldn’t wait for the whistle to blow Tell me the day was done I couldn’t wait to call her up So we could sing on the phone Nos vemos en la luna, Querida Nos vemos en la noche de luna Nos vemos en la luna, Papa Nos vemos en la luz de la luna How was your day, Papa? What did you do? When do you think I will get to see you again? She was beautiful, twelve years old They wouldn’t leave her alone We were planning to send her up north to me She never made it home How was your day, Papa? What did you do? When do you think I will get to see you again? Nos vemos en la luna, Querida Nos vemos en la noche de luna Nos vemos en la luna, Papa Nos vemos en la luz de la luna Meet me at the moon tonight