Digital publication | Page 82

"Pity the nation" 

By Anouk F. (after Ferlinghetti & Gibran) 2021 

 

Pity the nation who builds a tower of lies and calls it Truth

Pity the nation whose mother lights a match  

And sets fire to its youth 

Pity the nation whose leader calls for blood to be spilled 

Pity the nation who attacks its own  

on the highest Hill 

Pity the nation whose people 

fail to be heard  

Except for the visceral screams of hate 

That silence the singing bird 

Pity the nation who acclaims the hero as bully  

And greets him with trumpet sounds  

And screams “rise up” as they knock us down 

Pity the nation who parrots words of Freedom  

But praises the oppressor

As he claims the people’s land as His  

Pity the nation who is split into many that was once one  

They claim "it will just divide us"

Rather than let justice be served and won 

Pity the nation that  flaunts its arrogance and calls it humility  

Pity the nation that thrives on hostility and inhumanity    

Pity the nation where Equal is not a reality for many

Pity the nation, oh pity the land, 

Sweet land of Liberty.