we should have a land
of love joy wine song, not this …
land where joy is wrong
Adapted from the poem, Our Land by Langston Hughes as printed in The collected poems of Langston Hughes by Langston Hughes (Knopf: New York, 1994).
(On the 125th Birthday of Langston Hughes.)
We should have a land of sun,
Of gorgeous sun,
And a land of fragrant water
Where the twilight is a soft bandanna handkerchief
Of rose and gold,
And not this land
Where life is cold.
We should have a land of trees,
Of tall thick trees,
Bowed down with chattering parrots
Brilliant as the day,
And not this land where birds are gray.
Ah, we should have a land of joy,
Of love and joy and wine and song,
And not this land where joy is wrong.
There is a call today to make America great … again.
Funny thing, I always thought it was great.
Feet of clay to be sure.
Lots of dirt swept under both now and in the past.
But something about it, still great.
Great maybe, for the reason that there was a way things happened.
A process for the way things happened.
A process that was due to all people to be followed.
Due process.
Rules.
Simple rules.
But that isn’t how the MAGA people see it.
They see themselves as victims and as being victimized.
They tell me that the guy in office will fight for them.
Fight for them regardless of the process that was due.
I my gut feeling is that they see themselves as the Undertaker in the Godfather movie.
The undertaker who starts out the movie with the lines, “I believe in America. America has made my fortune.”
The Godfather responds, “I understand. You found paradise in America. You had a good trade, made a good living. The police protected you and there were courts of law.”
The Godfather continues, “Had you come to me in friendship … and that by chance if an honest man such as yourself should make enemies, then they would become my enemies. And then they would fear you”
And then they would fear you.
Is that not the perfect line?
And then they would fear you.
They would fear you.
Fear you.
Fear.
The thinking goes that the guy in the oval office fights for me and then they will fear me.
Make America great again by making people fear America.
As so many people are saying.
That’s not who we are.
Or at least, who we were.
For me?
I trust in God.
Let people think about that one.
For this country?
We should have a land of sun,
Of gorgeous sun,
And a land of fragrant water
Where the twilight is a soft bandanna handkerchief
Of rose and gold,
And not this land
Where life is cold.
We should have a land of trees,
Of tall thick trees,
Bowed down with chattering parrots
Brilliant as the day,
And not this land where birds are gray.
Ah, we should have a land of joy,
Of love and joy and wine and song,
And not this land where joy is wrong.
One more time out loud please.
Ah, we should have a land of joy,
Of love and joy and wine and song,
And not this land where joy is wrong.
No Haiku For You 