"PITY THE NATION(After Khalil Gibran)"by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

"PITY THE NATION"(After Khalil Gibran)

Pity the nation whose people are sheep
And whose shepherds mislead them
Pity the nation whose leaders are liars
Whose sages are silenced
And whose bigots haunt the airwaves
Pity the nation that raises not its voice
Except to praise conquerers
And acclaim the bully as hero
And aims to rule the world
By force and by torture
Pity the nation that knows
No other language but its own
And no other culture but its own
Pity the nation whose breath is money
And sleeps the sleep of the too well fed
Pity the nation oh pity the people
who allow their rights to erode
and their freedoms to be washed away
My country, tears of thee
Sweet land of liberty!

Lawrence Ferlinghetti (born March 24, 1919)is an American poet, painter, liberal activist, and the co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers. Author of poetry, translations, fiction, theatre, art criticism, and film narration, he is best known for " A Coney Island of the Mind" (New York: New Directions, 1958), a collection of poems that has been translated into nine languages, with sales of over 1 million copies.

I have associated him with the Beat Generation of poets and writers and were both a friend and supporter of those associated with that movement and the publishing wing of City Lights that he owned published many of the writers and poests. Ferlinghetti never intended to publish the Beats exclusively, and the press has always maintained a strong international list.

This is one of Ferlinghetti's recent poems and reminds me of what is happening in the current political climate in the United States today especially those activities of the so-called Tea Party. Many people feel pride in their intellectual isolation from facts and their removal from the educational foundations in the universities and colleges of the country. This radical element has always been present in this country, but with the advent of President Obama, it seems to be more active and filled with the fear of change that the president seems to represents to many people.