A Pablo Neruda Quote

“Qué será mi pobre patria oscura?” 

“What will become of my poor, dark country?” - from “Insomnia” by Pablo Neruda 

These words stick with me because they are similar to my own feelings about the United States of America. Interestingly enough, it is the dreadful repetition in our country that causes feelings of uncertainty. Every day someone new is shot. Someone else is abused. Another person wages war. These things keep happening over and over to the point where it is painfully predictable. I can barely manage a gasp anymore when I read the news because nothing shocks me. There is nothing new. This makes me wonder what path my country is headed on, at a time where national tragedies are normal. How much farther can we go? When will it end? Is there an end at all? I think Neruda felt something comparable as he ruminated upon the fate of Chile. “Qué será mi pobre patria oscura?” “What will become of my poor, dark country?”