{"id":1308425,"date":"2018-11-16T00:01:10","date_gmt":"2018-11-16T10:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.civilbeat.org\/?p=1308425"},"modified":"2018-11-15T21:08:48","modified_gmt":"2018-11-16T07:08:48","slug":"a-poem-for-these-perilous-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.civilbeat.org\/2018\/11\/a-poem-for-these-perilous-times\/","title":{"rendered":"A Poem For These Perilous Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

I teach an \u201cIntroduction to Research and Creative Work\u201d class in the Honors Program at the University of Hawaii Manoa.<\/p>\n

Recently, I had my students (more than half local, with the rest from Alaska, Colorado, California, Idaho and Washington) read Lawrence Ferlinghetti\u2019s 2007 \u201cPity the Nation,\u201d which is an update<\/a> of Khalil Gibran\u2019s 1933 poem of the same name.<\/p>\n

One of the lessons I try to impart is that research done in an ivory tower is of little use unless it also connects to the world we live in, addresses real human needs, and is accessible. We talk often about what it means in practical terms to “live the examined life.”<\/p>\n

After some class discussion, as a creative exercise, I asked each of them to do what Ferlinghetti had done to the Gibran poem: reimagine the poem by adding\u00a0 a couple of lines from any perspective.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Dawn Morais Webster’s class in the Honors Program at the University of Hawaii Manoa. <\/span>Courtesy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They did so, and those lines cobbled together, ending with the couplet from the Ferlinghetti poem, give us some sense of the disquiet among this group of millennials.<\/p>\n

To me at least, their lines resonate with an awareness of the peril our body politic is in.<\/p>\n

The students are Kelsey Ann Kimura, Ila Ferris, Samantha Darin, Jorj Christian Caguioa, Kayleen Fukushima, Rayna McClintock, Carleen Mandell,Sarah Igarashi, Nikki Hannah Cablay, Su Gyeong Kim, Haylee Fujioka, Skylar Haynes and Tehya Nichols.<\/p>\n

Here is the poem:<\/p>\n

Pity the people who reap from their land,
\nWatching flames and flood cover the ground.
\nPity the people\u2019s ignorant trust in their rulers
\nRelying on them for their children\u2019s futures.
\nPity the nation that does not help another,
\nWho would rather see their friends suffer.<\/p>\n

Pity the nation where oblivion overcomes,
\nAnd living the examined life is of no concern.
\nPity the nation that condemns foreign regimes
\nWhile blind to its own bureaucratic war
\nAnd democratic genocide on its own land.
\nPity the nation that does not vote
\nIgnoring the nation\u2019s failures and sufferings.<\/p>\n

Pity the nation where voices of truth
\nFall on ignorant ears.
\nPity the nation whose people do not vote
\nAt a time when their votes are needed the most.
\nPity the nation who believes a man, not a woman,
\nJust because he is a man.
\nPity the nation that abuses its women, endangering
\nThem, while upholding the patriarchal order.
\nPity the nation that defines fairness
\nBy saying boys will be boys,
\nWhile shortchanging women.<\/p>\n

Pity the nation that grieves for the famed
\nWhile virtue warrants no sympathy;
\nAnd lights no candle for the unrenowned.
\nPity the nation that discriminates
\nAgainst its own people
\nAnd doesn\u2019t let newcomers in.
\nPity the nation that has incapable rulers
\nToo ignorant and proud
\nTo protect their own citizens.
\nPity the nation divided by its parties
\nNot brought together by its suffering.
\nPity the nation that is blind:
\nThat covers their eyes with their palms
\nAnd claims there is no sky.<\/p>\n

My country, tears of thee<\/em>
\nSweet land of liberty!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I teach an \u201cIntroduction to Research and Creative Work\u201d class in the Honors Program at the University of Hawaii Manoa. Recently, I had my students (more than half local, with the rest from Alaska, Colorado, California, Idaho and Washington) read Lawrence Ferlinghetti\u2019s 2007 \u201cPity the Nation,\u201d which is an update of Khalil Gibran\u2019s 1933 poem […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":1308429,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"middle","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[183,182],"tags":[38456],"post_format":[],"project":[],"coauthors":[30236],"class_list":["post-1308425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-community-voice","tag-civil-beat-app"],"slp_mobile_featured_image":{"id":1308429,"href":"https:\/\/www.civilbeat.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1308429","image_path":"https:\/\/d1l18ops95qbzp.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/2018\/11\/09145452\/20181108_104918.jpeg","caption":"Dawn Morais Webster's class in the Honors Program at the University of Hawaii Manoa."},"acf":[],"slp_coauthors":[{"display_name":"Dawn Morais Webster","user_nicename":"dawn-morais-webster","author_link":"https:\/\/www.civilbeat.org\/author\/dawn-morais-webster\/"}],"slp_acf":{"post_twitter_card_type":"summary_large_image","post_twitter_card_description":"","cb_article_type":"community","cb_related_logo_image":false,"cb_related_logo_link":"","cb_related_sponsor_logo_image":false,"cb_related_sponsor_url":"","cb_related_sponsor_text":"","cb_article_footnotes":"","shins":false,"cb_inc_byline":true,"cb_custom_thumb_caption":true,"cb_author_contributor_type":"internal","enable_comments":true,"cb_excerpt_type":"","incsides":false,"include_donation_footnote":false,"photo_caption":""},"slp_primary_category":{"id":182,"name":"Community Voice"},"apple_news_notices":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"A Poem For These Perilous Times","url":"http:\/\/www.civilbeat.org\/2018\/11\/a-poem-for-these-perilous-times\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.civilbeat.org\/2018\/11\/a-poem-for-these-perilous-times\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d1l18ops95qbzp.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/2018\/11\/09145452\/20181108_104918-150x150.jpeg","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/d1l18ops95qbzp.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/2018\/11\/09145452\/20181108_104918.jpeg"},"articleSection":"Commentary","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dawn Morais Webster"}],"creator":["Dawn Morais Webster"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"天美视频","logo":""},"keywords":["civil beat app"],"dateCreated":"2018-11-16T10:01:10Z","datePublished":"2018-11-16T10:01:10Z","dateModified":"2018-11-16T10:01:10Z"},"rendered":"