"Democracy is the worst form of government," declared Winston Churchill, "except for all the others." In this presidential election year, fraught with amnesia, acrimony, and alternative facts, we'll consult various American poets who wrote on behalf of democracy, including Walt Whitman, Emma Lazarus, Langston Hughes, Carl Sandburg, Maya Angelou, Jane Hirshfield, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Amanda Gorman, among others. What made them believe in democracy despite its obvious shortcomings and frequent public indifference to its ideals? Poems will be handed out in class and read aloud as a prelude to discussion.

Moderator: Cecil Albright has led ten poetry discussion groups for OLLI.