Pity the Nation
Growing up, I loved poetry. I remember my teacher in high school. He was a religious man. He would always encourage us to read, write and memorize poetry. I always felt at home when doing so. I remember studying many poets including Khalil Gibran, Rumi, and Al-Mutanabbi.
Last night as I was looking at some online, I ran across this one titled “Pity the Nation” by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. He wrote it in 2007. I wanted to immediately capture it and not let it go. It was so appropriate. It captured the moment for me. It appeared at the right time. Poetry has this power. It speaks to you in ways no one could. Comedy has a similar effect. It reminded me of the good old days. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised that Lawrence and Gibran, who is Lebanese, spoke of the same situation and told this very tale at two different times in history.
Here is a paraphrased short version. See the references below for the full poem.
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 praises conquerors and acclaims the bully as hero.
Pity the people who allow their freedoms to erode and their rights to be washed away.
My country tears of thee. Sweet land of liberty.
The above poem is an abbreviated and paraphrased piece from “Pity the Nation” (2007). Lawrence Ferlinghetti, an American poet.
This Ferlinghetti’s poem was written after and inspired by an earlier work with the same theme by Khalil Gibran which was published in 1933 in his 26-piece The Prophet.
References
https://allenginsberg.org/2025/03/m-m-24-ferlinghetti/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prophet_(book)
More on Khalil Gibran
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kahlil_Gibran
More on Lawrence Ferlinghetti
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Ferlinghetti
More on Rumi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumi
More on Al-Mutanabbi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Mutanabbi
Johnny Harbieh 