by W. Luther Jett
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“Pity” (1795) by William Blake - Tate Britain, Public Domain And pity, like a naked new-born babe, Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubim, hors'd Upon the sightless couriers of the air. - Macbeth (1.7.21–23) |
To the world:
If you can watch this
and have nothing to say
at least have pity.
If you can watch this
and have no pity,
or have pity for one
and not for the other—
It is you I must pity.
And if you will not watch—
for you I have nothing,
nothing to say.
W. Luther Jett is a native of Montgomery County, Maryland and a retired special educator. His poetry has been published in numerous journals as well as several anthologies. He is the author of five poetry chapbooks: Not Quite: Poems Written in Search of My Father (Finishing Line Press, 2015), Our Situation (Prolific Press, 2018), Everyone Disappears (Finishing Line Press, 2020), Little Wars (Kelsay Books, 2021), and Watchman, What of the Night? (CW Books, 2022). A full-length collection Flying to America is scheduled for release in the spring of 2024, from Broadstone Press.