Questionnaire
POETRY FORMAT, 19 Aug 2019
Wendell Berry – TRANSCEND Media Service
1)
How much poison are you willing
to eat for the success of the free
market and global trade? Please
name your preferred poisons.
2)
For the sake of goodness, how much
evil are you willing to do?
Fill in the following blanks
with the names of your favorite
evils and acts of hatred.
3)
What sacrifices are you prepared
to make for culture and civilization?
Please list the monuments, shrines,
and works of art you would
most willingly destroy.
4)
In the name of patriotism and
the flag, how much of our beloved
land are you willing to desecrate?
List in the following spaces
the mountains, rivers, towns, farms
you could most readily do without.
5)
State briefly the ideas, ideals, or hopes,
the energy sources, the kinds of security,
for which you would kill a child.
Name, please, the children whom
you would be willing to kill.
_______________________________________________________
Wendell Berry, a poet of uncommon insight and courage of conviction, wrote this stunningly prescient poem first published in 2009 and later included in his altogether magnificent poetry collection Leavings (public library).
Wendell Erdman Berry is an American novelist, poet, essayist, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer. He is an elected member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers, a recipient of The National Humanities Medal, and the Jefferson Lecturer for 2012.
Tags: Poetry
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 19 Aug 2019.
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