poetry and truth.

"Pity the Nation," the latest poem by 80-year-old Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who still works at his City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco.

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.

ojos de mujer

a great loss.

i was very sad to wake up on thursday and find out that luciano pavarotti had passed away. i remember, from a very early age, watching him on pbs in chicago - wttw 11. operas, christmas specials, the three tenors. i remember it all. i could listen for hours, lost in the vibratto. he made it seem so effortless - especially with the gum in his mouth while singing.

if you have a moment, read this piece on the king of high c's by bono. (u2 wrote the song miss sarajevo for maestro pavarotti.)

one more time, enjoy nessun dorma. trust me, if it does not sound familiar to you, you will know it when you hear it.



here is a clip of miss sarajevo.

have a new, short 'do.

here's a sneak peak.