Pity the nation

 Pity the nation

Poetic reflection by Mazin Qumsiyeh 17 October 2021

 

Whose citizens do not have time to reading… especially the serious reading that can make a difference

Whose leaders care about their villas and privilages and not their people

Whose young people of affluence and do not know the meaning of hard work

Whose middle class has no kindness… not even to their family

Whose healthcare system is falling apart while its police forces are armed

Whose poor are angry but feel helpless to change

Whose children are not connected to the land

Whose elderly are not valued

Whose education system is a regurgitation system

 

Pity the nation

Which produces waste and damages its environment

Which eats junk food packaged in plastics or sprayed with chemicals

Which cares to build houses of worship more than houses of education

Which does not teach the value of time, the values of respect (for ourselves, for others, for nature)

Which lives in concrete “jungle” while not protecting its forests

Which does not know the taste of real freedom

….Freedom from oppression

….Freedom from guilt

…Freedom from hate

…Freedom from self-pity

…Freedom from powerlessness

 

Pity the nation

That has more cars than bicycles

That is crowded but has so much loneliness

That has more houses than homes

That imports its food, cloths, and tools

That does not know how generous is its land

….if only it is tended

That has few bird watchers and few hikers

That has many talkers and few listeners (to nature) and doers (of good deeds)

 

We must chose to be different

…to rebel

…to fight

…to work

…to love

…to respect ourseves, others and nature