meine umwelt
avec moi, sans moi,
par moi
Ahh… and the tales I shall unfold
May blast comprehension if the truth be told
An ode to the masters, martyrs and whims
A satyr on life and sullied daydreams
(1996)
Field of Dreams
A field of dreams,
Of treasured dreams,
Of anguish and despair;
Where battles fought
And trumpets blared
And fatal wounds
Are riven.
The sunrise in the morning,
The golden chariot rides,
In glory, in splendour,
In anxious suspense,
A grand new day announced.
A blade of grass,
Clothed in dew,
Drowned in blood.
The clatter, the clamour,
The tremendous uproar,
Honour to ye who sever most souls.
The foes meet,
In attack, in defence:
For king, for country, for religion,
For money, for power, for freedom;
The father, the brother, the son,
The husband, the lover, the friend.
He finds himself mortal,
Heroic man,
As his life seeps away
Into the thirsty Earth.
A serene sunset,
Hues of passion and peace
Render the heavens
Unspeakably beautiful.
The meadow is lush and green,
The soil fruitful.
Flowers peep out
As the cattle graze,
As insects find their way.
Children play
Over the ancient graves
And listen to the magnificent stories
Of times gone past
As bedtime nears each day.
They fantasise, their games each day,
Of war,
On any scale.
We fight for life,
We fight to live,
We’d fight our deaths away.
We love the faces
We hold so dear,
Yet fain forget
The foe we fought in yesteryear
Was some heart’s bloom,
Some beloved face,
Our neighbour near or far.
As we fight our brother,
Spill our sisters’ tears,
In search of some fond hope,
We see no longer with loving eyes,
Compassionate heart,
Or open mind.
Enemy to enemy,
No matter who he be,
We’ll gouge his eyes
And tear his breast,
And leave the carcass rot.
Friend, do you know me?
I knew you once,
Your life I touched with gentle caress,
Your babe was in these arms,
Was it you?
Or your mother’s mother,
A hundred thousand years ago?
Your blood was once my blood,
I knew your fears,
I knew your most cherished,
I could know them now,
If I thought:
For within me
Are yours
And within yours
Are mine.
(‘94/’95)
