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A HANDFUL OF DREAMS

BY EDDY ADRIAENS

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Copyright 2011: Edgard Adriaens

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informational storage or retrieval system without the expressed written, dated and signed permission from the author.

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INDEX

AlbatrossAranjuezBrotherly HateBrown LeavesCandyDaniellaDreams don’t dieEuropeanHeavenI have let you downKing of creationLooksLoveMaking life a hellMatrimonyMy prayerRaquel WelchSailing

SandStill with youSweet Mary-LynnThe catalystThe future songThe right thingThe screen actor as spectatorThe sound of silenceThe spankingTodayTribute to unhappinessUnconditionallyUnprivileged witnessesWhyThe essence of IThe history of IThe stage

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ALBATROSS

Between garbage and dirtWas born a birdAlbatross by name,An eagle by fame,Who fought needless battles at seaUntil a swallow passed byAnd taught him to fly.He fought needless battles at seaUntil his wings broke him free.

Now way above garbage and dirtWas heard a new cryAs Albatross became king of the sky.It was a cry of joy, hope and prideIn which, though, one could hearAn echo of pain, uncertainty and fearRebounding from earthWhere all he loved broke down in tearsWhen between the cloudsThey saw him disappear.

Steady purpose and strong emotion were heardIn the goodbye-cry of the mighty birdFare you well, brave bird, fare well,Here between the rocksThe candle of love will for ever burnAnd the songs we'll singWill be carried by the windsAnd touch your daring wings.

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They will lift you up whenever you are tiredAnd convey to you the dreams of your roots,Our support and our love, as treasures for you.

The songs we'll singWill split smog and cloudsAnd shine through the darkJust like on stormy daysSunbeams sometimes do.Fare you well, brave bird, fare well

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ARANJUEZ

My love,The soil you walk,The earth you smell, The air you breathe,They are still the same.

My love,The world has changed a lot,And will do so even more With every new dayYet it will always remain the same.

My love,The soil that I walk now,The earth that I smell,The air that I breathe,That is the world we share.

And worlds, my love,There is only one,Only one, Only this very one.The one, my loveIn which I loved you yesterdayThe one in whichI will love you endlessly.

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BROTHERLY HATE

We stole your country, Black Man,And took its riches away from youWe made you a slave and forced you to work for usWe called you primitive, backward and inferiorWe disliked you, nigger, but thought you could be of use.So we tried to use you, just as if you were some tool.

We profited by your weakness And felt stronger in consequenceBut did not like you any more for it.So whenever we talked about you,We stressed how musical and strong you are,But how lazy, unreliable and stupid too.

Things became worse when you talked About independence and equal rightsAnd started stealing back what in fact had always been yoursWe really started hating you then, Black Man,Because so many “innocent people” got killed.

Seated in our cosy chairs, we refused to considerThat the colour of our skin was a symbol too:Of self proclaimed superiority, of oppression,Refused to see the harm and sorrow that it representedNothing but Evil and bad things we had brought to you.

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In some way, Black Man, we were glad,Because now at last, we had good reasonsFor fearing and hating you,For locking you up,For starving, torturing and killing you.

That's about it, Black Man,So when one day you'll find the powerTo shatter your shacklesDo not save me then, Nigger, do notFor I am white too; I too, profited of youAnd you won’t read in my face That I sympathize with you,Because maybe, my brother, Maybe I will hate you too.

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BROWN LEAVES

Brown leaves dancing in the autumn wind:No more are we to any boss, my friend.

The work we take pride and pleasure in,Is a mere dance in the indian summer wind,Judged in conditions that well may changeFrom day to day.Judged by standards that tomorrowMay have ceased to be.

In exchange for the pay we receive,So many bosses think it’s ok to try and enslave usWhile they hide behind the nameless structuresThey sold their own soul toBecause to them all that matters in this worldIs their career and the money and power that it brings.

So they move us aroundLike peons on a chessboard,Like a toy in a child's hand:Wanted today, tomorrow thrown away,Sacrificed to dashing, drifting models,Crucified, dumped and pulverisedJust as easy, just as smooth.

Brown leaves in the autumn windNo more are we to any boss, my friend.I wonder though how it is that they cannot see:They are continuously losingThe best part of you and me.

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CANDY

How beautiful you were, my Candy,How innocent and fragile and sweet.You cried for the poor and cried for the war.I did not know there still existed peopleLike you at all!

You were so nice and pretty, So madly in love with me.You left your boyfriend at a blink,And offered me your bodyAs if it was a rose.I did not know there were any more of those!

Sweet, sensitive, innocent CandyHow I hoped this could be love!After all you were such a sweet little bird.You brought oceans of emotions into my world,The way nobody had ever done before.

How very sad to findThat everything about you was so fake.Too soon I discovered,I was just your weekend-loverYou had another boyfriend at school:A boy in Brussels, and one on the bus,A boy that did not smokeAnd one who was fond of cheese,A boy for rainy daysAnd me, …I was just one of these.

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DANIELLA

"You ruined my entire life"You snapped at me,Your face torn with anger,Your brown eyes dark with hate,Your voice hoarse with contempt.

Briskly you turned aroundAnd left me there whole aloneAmidst the dancing crowd.Fifteen we were that day.Fifteen and it had been a year or moreSince last we spoke.

Just imagine:Somewhere between the ages of twelve and fourteenI have ruined a girls entire lifeBy nothing else but playing hide and seek,Talking on the street,Exchanging drawings and letters every now and thenAnd telling each other our love would never end.

Funny:I still remember to this dayThat I never realisedJust how fond I was of youUntil my father send you away.And never once did we meet in secretUntil our parents so forbade.

Ach Sweet Lord,Why do some parentsRuin their children’s lifeOver nothing but their own fears?

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DREAMS DON'T DIE

If you ever visited AalstYou must know the little houseThat shows the Union Jack paintedOn the full surface of its front wallIt has a sign beside the door“Welcome to autochthones and foreigners alike”

If you ever visited AalstYou must know the house of my dreams;But you may not know meThough I am living nearby.

I got a P.C., a V.C.R., a T.V.,Piles of LPs, CDs and DVDsI got stuck with abbreviations,I have a wife and a golden cageI own a house and carAnd have some money at the bank

What luck dreams don't die!

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EUROPEAN

European, he scornedHow can you live like that?The only thing you have not planned yetIs the date and time of your death!

I looked at him standing there alone,His marriage ruined long ago,His children divided over three families.He did not possess much moreThan the clothes he was wearing.His last employer accused him of abuse of trustAnd he had outstanding debtsIn at least five different places.

Yet he was madly in love again,With a girl he's known for some three weeksA month and thirteen thousand kilometres from here.So he's planning to leave the country- Or to getting her in, which for himIs very much the same thing.

First, of course, he needs a carAnd some new furnitureTherefore, he vaguely dreamsAbout some super-job...

Jesus, how can he live like that?The only thing he knows for sureIs that he too is going to die one day!

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HEAVEN

I am twenty-one and do feel strongGot a bonny wife I love so muchAnd a steady job that keeps us in the rush.We are both feeling happy, healthy and young,Enjoying all diseases of modern conveniencesWhilst saving for a nice sweet homeAnd thinking of the common years ahead.

We have some first class mates,Who -like us- enjoy the taste of beer,A shake of dances and sweatMixed with the flavour of a mild cigarette,A drop of trivial gossip here,A little bit of profoundness there:That is how we live the life we think is the best.

CIGARETTE SMOKING CAUSES CANCERPOP MUSIC IS BAD FOR ONE'S EARS

WATCHING TELEVISION REDUCES CREATIVE THINKINGPETTING FOR PLEASURE WEAKENS THE HEART

POLUTION AFFECTS ONE'S LUNGSSTRESS GETS ON ONE'S NERVES

MODERN LIFE DAMAGES OUR HEALTH

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So, if one day, I come to dieThen put no flowers on my grave,Say no prayers for my peace of mindAnd sing no silly songs.For what I did cannot be undoneAnd heave is what I’ll be leaving then:

A world where I was God,With Marie the one who shared my lifeAnd Jesus the child we got.The Holly Ghost, - don’t you know? - He was my fatherAll angels were relativesAnd saints: the people I have known.

Therefore: when you find me all stiff and whiteThen know one God as goneFrom a heaven where billions could be happyIf only selfishness and sickness could be cured

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I HAVE LET YOU DOWN

Here I sit at 2 a.m.Here I sit againAnd think of you,Sipping my coffee coldAll sad and weary

Because I have let you downI have let you downI have let you downI have let you downLike many damned timesHave I let you down again.

Yet, I must admitNever did I knowHow quiet and friendlyThis room can be at 2 a.m.,How sweet the memories smile at meSomewhere between 2 and 3

Yet: I have let you downI have let you downI have let you downToday I let you down again

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But then,Was it so very hard to miss me just this onceAnd only for an hour or two?I too, missed you thereLike I missed you in all those placesWhere we never were together.And like I miss all the placesWhere we never were.

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KING OF THE CREATION (tribute to Bob Marley)

You, man, get up.Stand up. Lift your head.No, don't bend your knee!Drop your chains now and look at me!

Human, did I not give you the right to stand upStand up for what you believe in?Then, how come you are now telling meYou've never ever been free?

You, Human, your whole life long, you step your feet, You curse my name and show your fists to meBut finally, when you die and find outYou're on your way to hellThen you look me in the eye and cry in agony:

PLEASE LORDY, LET ME PLEAD MY CAUSE:I DRUDGED AND TOILED MY WHOLE LIFE THROUGHI PRAYED AND SLAVED AND ALL I'VE EVER DONE,WAS FOR THE GOOD OF MY FAMILY.THERE WERE HARD TIMES, LORD, PAYING AS WE HAD TOFOR THE CAR, THE PHONE, THE HOUSE ... THE LITTLE THINGS WE GOT…

Oh, you man, you, Human, you'd better shut your mouthAnd listen to what I say. Now that is, while you're still aliveYou, man, you, you human, you lie, You sheet and steel and killYou worship nothing but gold. Gold and power, flattery and loveLove that satisfies your bloody self.

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You, you human, you creep, you crawl, You stoop and bow For every dime you get; You hear just what you like to hear,See only what you want to see and even then explain thingsIn a crooked way, to make them more convenient to thee.

Oh, you, Human, are you then really too blind to seeHow those little things, these thousand thingsYou say you have been working for ... How they fill your life?You pile them up. You pile and pile and pile it onYou, man, you never stop, you never even give yourselfThe time to see how fat your belly grew,How huge this wall of little things became.

Oh, Human, millions are perishing of starvationNo cars, no houses, no stereos have they to pay forYet they starve because you, you human,You just can't think of anything but yourself.

Oh you, human, you most unworthy king of my creationYour excuse has been denied, Your plead never reached my soulYou, human, maybe this will make you realizeThat the opposite of love is not hate, but death!So you, Human, when will you awake?

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LOOKS

I guess we're all like that:One enters a roomAnd the only person he's noticingIs the prettiest girl about.

I guess we're all like that:One enters a roomAnd the only person he seesIs the girl who's looking around just like he:Looking for a pair of eyesThat linger once and linger twice,Talk of hunger and promise mystery,Then grow big and mistyAnd change into a staring gazeFor no obvious reason at all.

I guess we're all like that:Dancing a thousand dances,Yet suddenly trembling at this one,Transcendentally aware of every breath,Every move of the body we are holding,The body we are wantingThe body we know wants us.

I guess we're all like that:Lost in visions of love and passion,Unexpectedly aroused by just a glance.

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How interesting and inviting a person isThat is capable of promisingLove and understanding,Adventure and romanceToo such degreeIn just about two seconds time!

Sweet Lord,Never did we bargain for moreNor did we hope for lessFor this, My Lord,Is nature and its best:

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LOVE

To love is to beFor nobody can exist without love.To be means: to liveAnd as no living is possible for me without you,In consequence love are you.

Love is the conception of our being together,The warmth of your thoughts,The lights in your eyes,The words we say when sitting close... Even without speaking at all.

Love is the pressure of your lips upon mine,My mouth on your breast, your hand on my leg,It is the sensation of our caresses,Your body against mine and mine in yours.

But love is more!Love is the rose blooming in the inaccessibility of your soul,The unpredictability of your behaviour,The origin of our dreams, the reason of our being,The source of our strength, as said before:Love are you!

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MAKING LIFE A HELL

We said all the wrong things.We made all the wrong moves.So it is no wonderThat this big love of ours could not last.

We were young and excitedShould have made funShould have made loveInstead of making each other’s life a hell!

Looking back in the mirror of time,I see us in the same place all of the time;I hear us talking so very seriously;I see us dancing and kissing,Caressing the frontiers of decency.

But where was the fun?Where were the friends?Where the unexpected, the adventure?We never let anyone in to our life!

No wonder we were getting bored:All that kept us togetherWas the hope for the changesThat you made me promise never to make.

We were young and excited.Should have made fun,Should have made love.But instead we killed all the magicAnd turned heaven into hell.

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MATRIMONY

My mind and feet and hands are tied.Yet if I could join the other side,I would remain imprisoned still:A captive out of my free will.

For what can all that freedom bringBut theories with a smell of spring,That in the end will all collapse in painLeaving me alone, worrying in vain?

If not your love and tenderness for me,The warmth of everlasting sympathyWere there to accompany me through this worldWith every now and then a single reassuring word.

Though different we will always be,Making allowances I for you and you for me,There is no need for convincing youThat what you feel, I am feeling too.

Because years of together lifeMade me really one with you, my wife:A solid basis for giving birthTo children working for a better world!

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MY PRAYER

My Lord, it has been saidThat if you are perfection,And perfection is what I search,Then it is you I am looking for.And if eternity is my final goal,Then it is you I will meet with in the endFor eternal are you alone.

In the same way it has been saidThat at the end of my quest for loveAnd justice, for freedom and happiness,For satisfaction of all my needs,There will be you:You, without whomNo final fulfilment can be possible;You, last and everlasting question,Last and everlasting answer too,To the question and answer I am;You, without whomLife only in despair can end.

And yet, dear Lord,However simple and beautifulIf all this were to be true,However much at timesI have wished it to be true,

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RATHER WILL I CHOOSE TO DIE IN AGONYTHAN TO COMFORT ME WITH A BELIEF UNTRUE

THAT WOULD ONLY BE BETRAYAL OF ME(AND THEREFORE, MAYBE, YOU).

RATHER WILL I SUFFER THE PAINSOF LIVING THIS NEVER ENDING QUEST

THAN TO ACCEPT THE MEGALOMANICALHINEININTERPRETIERUNG

OF THOSE LOOKING FOR YOUR FACEIN THE MIRROR OF THEIR OWN PETTY MIND,

PAYING ATTENTION ONLY TO THE BEAMSTHAT REFLECT THEIR WILDEST DREAMS.

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RAQUEL WELCH

Oh Well,I was fourteenAnd fed up with little girls.Felt I was quite a man.But since I lived,Trapped in boy's skin still,The only women to seduceWere paper fairiesThat I would never meet with.

Like Raquel would my girlfriend be:Friendly, sexy and promising to me.Like Raquel should my girlfriend be:With a warm, tender and exiting bodyCapable of setting my imagination free.

Oh Well,By the time that I was sixteen,A grown up man in the middle of his teens,- Hard pretending, that is, to be -I was still turning over pages of magazines,Seducing paper women that I had never seen.

Like Raquel would no girlfriend be:Always smiling, always inviting, always ready for me.Like Raquel could no girlfriend be:Saying, doing all the time the very words and thingsThat lived in that crazy head of mine.

Oh well,I learned in my right timeThat fighting dreams isn’t easy:

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1. Not to any girl of flesh and bloodThat couldn't offer what on paper I already got

2. Nor to a boy, growing up to become a man,Until he found how lifeless and unrealHow big a lie, how fake and bad a dealAny paper goddess will always be.

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SAILING(there will never be no plain sailing)

Who told you there is something I know,Something I'd want to show?Why don't you just go and let go?Forget it, let me be:I cannot see beyond my sky,I most certainly cannot see beyond yours!

What is there I could tell you?I could tell that the silver lining beyond the cloudsIs not reality, is not life,is not wat you will meet with(Nor anybody else if it comes to that),

I could tell you that dreams - though nothing but a mixtureOf personal needs, desires, thoughts,Frustrations and ambitions -Will rule your life;

That dreams - no matter how unreal -Can give you the strength to push backThose iron walls that at some time will surround you;

That dreams - elusive as they may be -Can also weigh, depress and stress youUntil you choke under their pressure:Crushed, smashed, shatteredBy nothing real at all.

No ship sails against the winds.The dream of your generation,The part of it that is yours,Therefore: watch it,

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Learn how to recognize it,Talk about it, criticize it,Follow it, improve it,...

But always remember:There is no such thing as a silver liningThat the sun will paintAnd the winds will blow towards youFor what has been born from spirit alone,No man will ever acquire.

Yet one can fightTo prevent his dream from fading away,And one can fight to make this world brighter,To make other people see this light,Recognize it, talk about it, and criticize it,Improve it, follow it, and dream about it,Live up to it, fight for it...

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SAND

With both handsI grasped and caughtAnd what no man could ever keepFor one very long nanosecond,Was mine, all mine.

A dreamer therefore I may be.Yet I support othersWith my time, my life, my energy.Others that I care forAnd that is quite all rightOthers, because I want toAnd that is just fine with me.

With both handsI grasp at the light of the sun,At the rain and the snowflakes,At the romance of a million constellationsShining in the warm summer night.

Yes, I confess:I am one who smiles at the moonAnd talks to the cows in the fields,I dance with the flowersAnd respectfully greet the holy old trees.

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And of course, I dream of a woman stretched with desireBoasting her beautiful slim figure,And breasts with the softest of skin.Oh, yes I dream of making love in the grass,Of drowning in eyes that requite my mood,Of going to concerts and travelling with her …

But all my dreams are but sandThat slips through my clumsy hands.Dreams that reflect in mirrors of glassThe sand that the wind blows in my eyes.It is all sand in my eyes,Sand that mingles with the tears that I cry.

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STILL WITH YOU

Listen to the windAnd you will hear my voice.Look up at the starsAnd you will see me smile.The sun, my love, that is I,That is you, that is lifeIt is love, my love, just love.

People will tell youThat everything has changedThey will tell youThat the past has goneAnd the future will be your life,That only future is to come.

Yet here I am, here I comeWalking through the fields of time,Running towards you.Here I am, to love you nowKnowing that you love me tooAlthough I am justA little dot from a distant past.

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You have so much future waitingSuch a lot of time ahead,Just like I had only yesterday!But please, do bear in mind:The future I had yesterdayIs yours today, is yours to come,Will be yours until tomorrow,Yours, until it will have gone away.

Life is but a fragile roseThat is passed from hand to hand.It is an empty shellLying idly in the sand,Waiting for some child's handTo give it sense and meaningFor another hour or soAnd then be lostOr thrown away again.

Look, my love,Look over the rim of timeAnd you will find me, smiling thereAnd you will find me, lying thereJust waiting to be foundBy you again.

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SWEET MARY-LYNN

You flushed and lost your voiceEvery time that I was near.How very clear it wasFor everyone to see:This truly was the love of the year!

So we kissed and since that time,Met every single day in townAnd every weekend at the club;We went walking in the fields,And shared all we had.Surely we were the cutest couple of them all!

But then, one night, unexpectedlyYou told me we were too young.Just like that.It was so very obvious:The magic of our love had goneAnd I had not even noticed.

I remember walking home that nightSinging "This cannot be" and feeling angryWith myself because I couldn't cry.It was so hard having to admit That you were right: Deep inside, we’d always knownBreaking up was part of our love affair.

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THE CATALYST

I AM A BATNAILED TO A STABLE-DOOR,AN IMPOTENT FETISCHTHAT OTHERS USETO SUPPORT THEIR LIVES WITH.

I LOATHE THE WHISKY SMELLOF MANURE PRODUCED IN IDLINESSAND BREATHE AD NAUSEAMTHE NICOTINE OF FALSE COMFORTWHILE MY VEINS ARE BEING DRAINEDOF DREAMS I THOUGHT I HEARDYET NEVER SAW.

BUT BEHOLD: I LIVEAND SINCE IT SEEMSTO BE IN MY FATETO BE A SUPPORTTO LIVES WELL BELOVED...

SEE: THE DAWN IS RISING,BLACK IS TURNING INTO GOLD,THE CATALYST IS ACTIVE AGAIN:LOVE, LOVE, LOVE ALONECAN MAKE THIS LIFEWORTH WHILE

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THE FUTURE SONG

Here I am to love youKnowing that you love me tooThough I am just a little part of your pastAnd you have so much future before you.

Here I am to love youKnowing that only yesterdayI had so much future before meAnd you were but a little star in my sky.

So, sweet sweet child, do bear in mindThe future I had coming to me yesterdayIs yours today, is yours to shapeUntil the moment that you understand this song.

Life is a rose, passed from hand to hand;A shell that is found, lying idly in the sandWaiting for a child's handTo give it sense and meaning

Like a rose it is, bringing us messagesOf beauty and love on a stem set with thorns;Like a shell it is, filled with daring dreamsOf adventures with an happy end.

A fragile miracle I hope you will cherish,My love, my girl, my friend.

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THE RIGHT THING

Pouring cats and dogs it was,The water overflowed the narrow pathAlongside which we had parked the car."Look at it rain" you exclaimedClimbing over to the back-seat"Just look at it rain!”

But all I could seeWas the long, fair hairCurling down your slim back."Never even knew it could rain like this"You repeated, turning slowly towards me.

"But then, don't all good things come from above?”You added, and your voice grew hoarseWhile you sank down on the benchPulling me over with your blue eyes.

Pouring cats and dogs it was,A bit like it is right now.So many years have passedSince that summer in the hills.Yet when I close my eyesI still see you stretched on that bench:All fair and white and pinkTender, slim, lovely just like then.

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And as the rain brings backThese memories of you,I still cannot help wonderingWhether I did the right thingOn that beautiful, distant rainy day,When I told you I could not stay.

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THE SCREEN-ACTOR AS SPECTATOR

My mind is working.

Deep inside there areLevels of consciousnessMingling, tingling,Each apart.

Deep inside, water is flyingThrough the paper curtain.What on top is NOW,Is under the bottom NOW.

... On floor twenty fourI know what on floor eight is happening.If only I could stop this cursed wheel!If only my hands could heal!

But I am just a bat nailed to a stable door,An impotent fetish that others useTo support their lives with.I loathe the whisky smellOf manure produced in idleness,And breathe ad nauseamThe nicotine of false comfortWhile, powerless, I watchHow my veins are being drainedOf dreams I thought I heardBut never saw.

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THE SOUND OF SILENCE

The lights are dimmed, the fires low,The streets are empty, nobody is wandering about.The walls seem naked, everything perspires stress.Nothing clinks, nothing squeaks, no one sings,There is only the sound of silence.

A bonny lass is whimpering, children pray,The trees are dying, the flowers goneThe shadows on the crossing are armedAnd everybody is just listeningTo the sound of silence.

For the next shell may fall here,The next bullet might be yours And the next to die: my brother, my friend, I, or you ... or you.And nothing will remainBut the sound of silence.

Why are we always fighting?Is it idiosyncratic with us?How illusive is power, how useless moneyWhen people that you really loved are Dead.Oh, chuckle-heads: before you grab your gun,Do think of that dreadful sound of silence!

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THE SPANKING

I hit you.I hit you with love,Like a father hits his son;Like the wind hits the waves;Like the rain hits the paves,And washes all the dust away.So did I hit you … With love

And ever since, the scream from your lips,The yell of the gull of the seas,The shriek of the owl in the trees,Reverberate in my heart.Long after you have forgotten your painMy soul remains un-mended stillFrom the impotence that broke it apart.

Whatever my blows washed away,It was not the grief from my heart,Nor the heaviness that stressedWhat was left of the hope from the start.

I hit you with desperation,Like the rain hits the graves,And washes all the seeds awayThat clung to the marble plates;Like the wind hits the trees,And takes all the blossoms away;

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Like a son hits his father,And in doing so kills part of the dreamThat would have made him the man He was meant to be.

So did I hit you.And ever since,I carry a wound in my heart.

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TODAY

Nothing can undoAnything we've ever done,Nothing can changeThe kind of personWe've become.

Sure: today is the first dayOf the rest of our lives;But as we all knowAnd a pity to it, too:Tomorrow never comes.

Nothing can undoWhat I have done,No one can changeWhat I have become.

There's too much pastAnd the future still has not begun.Anyway: what is the useOf walking in yesterdays,Or dreaming about tomorrowsIf this implies not being homeNot being around When love comes knocking at my door today?

Here and now is where you'll find me.I'll be the one that is at homeFor the friend who comes by today,For my wife, who needs me now,For my daughter growing fast.

… Hell, I want today to last!

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TRIBUTE TO UNHAPPINESS

Days are dying one by oneAnd with every day A little of myself has gone.

There are people crying of loneliness,Hiding things they have not,Pretending to beWhat anyone can see they are not.

There is a world out there filled with hunger, With sorrow, with hatred and angerA world of passion, of hope, and ambition...A world I have lost.

What happened to my inventive mind?Where have my emotions gone?Why is it that I became so blind?Blind and deaf to all that's happeningSo close, so very close to me?

Wealth and luck have made me lazy.Wealth and luck have killed my spirit.Wealth and luck have drowned my words.

I am strong and young and healthy;I have the woman others are fighting for;I own the house they are dreaming of;I hold the job they are looking for...So there really is no need for me to sob.

Nor is there any need left for me to liveBecause all they are living for ... I have got.

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UNCONDITIONALLY

Some people give their heart away,Talk of happiness and love for ever,Then get wet feet when they realizeHow much fun they are about to miss.

But when the dream explodes into their faceThey turn to you again to help them outAnd spell out the terms under which They are willing to return into your arms.

Strange that they do not understandThat some people take love seriouslyAnd can only give their heartNo terms attached - unconditionally?

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UNPRIVILEDGED WITNESSES

We've seen it all:We were in the best row all the wayAnd counted every blow.We saw it all, we saw it allWhether fake or real wasn't always clearBut sure as hell: we were the first to tell.

I still remember we'd give peace a chance;We were the new jeaneration with flowers in our hair.And our heads filled with dreams of love and democracy.For a couple of years, everything seemed possible.It seemed so easy back then to tell right from wrongBut in fact, we never even knew what was going on.

Long time since, reality came crashing down on usAnd every time I hear this song"Where have all the flowers gone"Burning tears still gather in my eyes

Sweet Lord: How they shot our dreams away!The Kennedies and Martin Luther King,Che Guevarra and Romero,Chile, Nicaragua, …How they shot our dreams away!

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Sad to say: we've seen it allWe’ve seen it right before our eyesWe've seen it happen at eight o'clockJust before man walked on the moon.We were in the best row all the wayAnd counted every blow.

Kissinger, Nixon, Reagan, Bush, …They all had their part of the fun.Vietnam lays in ruins,Africa is a desert now,The Sowjet Union simply ceased to exist,Some even say United States citizensAre the biggest victims of all.But they do not know …. Yet.

Soo we better get ready for the eight o'clock newsTo witness what is coming next.

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WHY

You've got tears in your eyes, little girl.Tell me: why are you sobbing?Aren’t you happy to liveIn one of the world's richest states?Tell me, little girl, why?

Are you crying because of the poor, lodged in slums?Because of your brother, fighting in Viet Nam?Maybe because of the development countriesExploited by our countries, Tell me, little girl, why?

Is it because of the oppression of people?Because of the thousands living in slums?Because of nations fighting each other?Because of hate, wandering all around?Tell me, little girl, why?

Oh, I see: you're weeping over your broken dolly.Go on crying, little girl, and be happy you can,Daddy sure will buy you a pretty new doll soon;Excuse me for thinking for a minute that you had grown upAnd that misery and injustice in the world made you cry.

But then, I should have now betterBecause even grown ups don’t usually careAbout a small detail like that!

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THE ESSENCE OF I

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