Ferlinghetti reading "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 conquerors
and acclaim the bully as hero
and aims to rule the world
with 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.