Pity the Nation

Pity the Nation by Wang Ping after Ferlinghetti Pity the nation whose freedom melts faster than Arctic ice Whose justice defends sex predators & puts children in jail. Pity the nation that sells academia into corporate fiefdoms Whose presidents scream “Not enough” with their million-dollar package Who hike up tuitions to shackle students with debts Who turn professors into adjuncts and intellectual slaves. Pity the nation branding youths with Divide & Conquer logos Who learn how to get rewards by ordering WOC professors to “take down the syllabi!” Calling them “racists & appropriators” as public shaming. Pity the nation whose education becomes “just business” Its giant machine squeezing hefty tuitions from Chinese and other Asians Who sell blood and kidneys to send their children to America for a degree. Oh pity the nation whose president churns lies like popcorn Whose students get presidential awards for libeling Grandpas from the Rez For yelling “you should feel lucky I find your words good enough to plagiarize” To her professors who try to teach academic integrity. Pity the nation as her Lady weeps for children filling up the cages along the border Her torch stolen to slow-burn the soles, palms, and tongues of defiant students. Pity the nation that bans professors from campus and rewards cheaters and mediocrity That condemns poetry for “manipulating emotions” That bullies truth into silence That gags science, deletes data, exiles facts into deserts That wires classrooms with eyes and ears to break spirits. Oh pity the nation that builds its high tower upon the bones of the Natives, slaves, coolies, Asian American scholars, LGTBQ artists, immigrant poets . . . Oh pity! Oh let’s pity the nation with actions! Let’s stand together for truth. Freedom is never free. Freedom takes courage, our flesh and spirit. But it’s worth it. It’s our reason to live—with tears of joy, joy of pride In this land of the free and brave. Wang Ping has published thirteen books of poetry and prose. She’s the recipient of NEA, Bush, Lannan, and McKnight fellowships, director of the Kinship of Rivers project, and professor of English at Macalester College. Her multimedia exhibitions include Behind the Gate: After the Flood of the Three Gorges and We Are Water: Kinship of Rivers. WORLDLIT.ORG 73 PHOTO: HULLEAH TSINHNAHJINNIE

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