Beyond the Border

Do you know where your coat was made?

I didn't know where mine was, in fact — until today

A backpack unused in the corner of my room —

I wondered what it could still become

We sent it overseas, with pencils in the supply

To a boy in Afghanistan who walks an hour to come

I imagine how he opens it. I imagine what he sees

His son someday will know what letters mean

An illiterate father learns why reading frees —

One bag, one border crossed, one in-between

I know where it comes from now. I know who it's for

The world is a hand that passes, shore to shore

Words are power. Words are light

Tell me what you carry — I'll tell you what it's for

Do you know how interdependent we all are?

The rice from Thailand, the coat from a daily hand

The coffee sold from Brazil, imported far —

Most of what I wear was made in another land

In fact, no one lives alone. No one ever did

The relationship is old — beyond the maps, beyond the sea

Surrounded by the globe, connected thread to thread

Ask where your morning comes from — and you'll find me

We know where it comes from now. We know who it's for

The world is a hand that passes, shore to shore

Words are power. Words are light

We know what we carry. And we'll carry more

One backpack. One border. One boy who reads

Beyond the border — that is where it leads