The Republic of Poetry has no borders. In this republic no human being is illegal. In this republic no one is thrown on the other side of the fence after building the fence. Every time the fence goes up, you must tear it down.

From Martín Espada’s Hampshire College Commencement Address, May 19. 2007.

I recommend the whole thing, it speaks to our present moment in striking and stirring terms, starting with this James Baldwin quote at the beginning: “The reality in which we live is a reality we have made, and it’s time, my children, to begin the act of creation all over again.”