"Bird with Two Right Wings"

What a perfect picture to go along with this next poem...



In his next work, "Bird with Two Right Wings," Lawrence Ferlinghetti discusses his views on the United States of America's political situation.

I find the name to be very, very humorous.  One, because "bird" is a reference to the bald eagle, and two "right wings."  "Right wings" is very controversial because not only is he calling America a "screwed-up bird," he is referring to the US as a right-winged nation, that is, the US government believes in a separation of social status, whether they want to admit it or not.  I find it very funny that he decides to go that far.  I must say, that's a very heavy statement to make in such a critical country.

Now that I think about it... didn't the last poem I discuss have to do with making works that undergo positive and negative speculation, and that one's career relies on have a positive outcome?  Hmm... strange.

Anywho, I tend to stay away from discussing my own political views, and I also tend to stay away from titles, as I do not believe it is a good idea to identify yourself with just one type of idea.  I believe it would be much better if the world would call themselves independents, and accept ideas from everyone.  People need to be open-minded when it comes to new ideas.  I will stop there... it's annoying to talk politics because of corruption, fraud, fake personalities, false hope, and incorrect information that is literally thrown at our faces every day.  Gah! There I go again.

Back to the poem... I like hearing what Ferlinghetti has to say, and the metaphor that citizens are just helpless civilians in an airplane controlled solely by the pilot (the government) is very emotionally powerful and persuasive.  It is a very scary thought to imagine that our lives are completely controlled by "the system," and that there is nothing we can do about it.

I mean, it's tough to name things that the government doesn't control... Scary thought.

At the end of the day, however, we are very lucky to grow up in a country like the US.  People complain about our government and its corruption, but at least we do not live in a dictatorship of communist country.  We should also acknowledge that we are lucky.