Thoughts from an American at the heart of The Beat Generation on somethingswronginAmerica across the arc of his lifetime of 101 years - his final breath on Washington's birthday 2021. As relevant in the 60s as it was in 2007 as it is today: Lawrence Ferlinghetti's poem, Pity The Nation
PITY THE NATION
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 conquerors
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 2007 (after Khalil Gibran) –
u/Madame_Arcati — 22 hours ago