When I Was Thirtysomething 1990s

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I saw a colonel in shadows arms dealing I saw a chain of command red faced and reeling I saw a disaster, the flight of the damned I saw the wreckage strewn where it had slammed I saw a gulf and a deadline pass at dawn I saw oil wells burning in a desert storm I saw set free no ordinary man without a grudge I saw he knew only God can judge I saw a bloody leather glove, a Ford Bronco chase I saw a trial of murder, of media, of race I saw my life half lived and I was bemused I saw a ticking bomb not yet defused I saw a false idol perish in a great inferno I saw the burnt corpses with no place to go I saw again the crime of the century I saw the crimes against humanity I saw a cowardly act, a sign of things to come I saw a bomber, a child killer, and I felt numb I saw a good and wise lass - she threw me a lifeline I saw a loveless fate was no longer mine I saw rivers and oceans choke and acid in the sky I saw devastation on the land and habitats die I saw the new face of a modern nation I saw its identity sold and robbed by immigration I saw crippling debt burdened on the poor I saw hunger and disease and tribal war I saw a revolution - the biggest yet I saw the beginnings of a world-wide net I saw a magic blue pill for a love connection I saw in my dreams a huge erect-ion I saw an intern in a blue dress with her flirtations I saw Bill say he did not have sexual relations I saw Lorena Bobbitt in a rage I swear I saw every man’s worst nightmare I saw old scores settled in old enclaves I saw the sieges, war crimes and mass graves I saw young men with visions of martyrdom I saw loaded vests blown to kingdom come I saw a lunatic chop down a tree I saw another claim the whales in the sea I saw gunboat diplomacy and sabre rattling I saw ethnic cleansing and civil war battling I saw the sad end to a game of chess I saw the death of a princess I saw genocide while the world looked away I saw it in Africa but it seems that’s okay I saw a massacre in a classroom and shook my head I saw in an old convict jail thirty-five dead I saw a nation’s favourite son crash into the sea I saw yet another dead Kennedy I saw a path that led to nowhere I saw for too long I wandered there I saw a new start in a new land begin I saw I needed a family of my own kin I saw a parallel universe in my stars so high I saw that the truth is sometimes a lie I saw a green machine that purred like a cat I saw a woman in black and that was that I saw at midnight a new millennium I saw at dawn the swing of the pendulum I saw this decade through the eyes of a gent I saw I knew what none of it meant Written: May 2008

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