| |
When I Was Twentysomething 1980s
I saw a man die who took a stance
I saw he just wanted to give peace a chance
I saw the boycotts and the embargoes
I saw trafficking in human cargos
I saw hedge funds, junk bonds, oil and gold
I saw a woeful deficit in the Third World
I saw a royal prince and princess in a carriage
I saw a third person in their marriage
I saw three days of music in the sun
I saw time stand still as my head spun
I saw a cowboy on the hill, a matinee idol
I saw shots fired in a nation’s capital
I saw helmets, a riot squad, a barricade
I saw from the terraces a test match played
I saw a new disease that affects us all
I saw no one is immune to its deadly pall
I saw a Nazi butcher, an act of unrepentance
I saw him found guilty and sentenced
I saw ash and dust turn day to night
I saw it happen with a trembling might
I saw a Young Turk in a war he could not win
I saw alas the end of an era closing in
I saw solidarity in a Polish shipyard
I saw a changing of the guard
I saw a new wave and I didn’t like it one bit
I saw music and pop culture turn to sh-it
I saw a great earthquake far and wide
I saw the rubble with people inside
I saw gas and poison leak in Bhopal village
I saw them left to die and clean up the spillage
I saw a hostage in a foreign land
I saw a line drawn in the desert sand
I saw an iron maiden order a fleet set sail
I saw her resolute that she not fail
I saw the world united for a day
I saw the dead and dying motionless lay
I saw myself travel back in time again
I saw my journey end in Port of Spain
I saw in the heavens a countdown to death
I saw the stunned crowd hold its breath
I saw clouds of death for miles around
I saw a concrete tomb on the ground
I saw uprising in the holy land
I saw that the world needs a helping hand
I saw seabirds and fish smothered in oil
I saw leaking tankers the natural world spoil
I saw frogmen and the Rainbow Warrior
I saw it sinking in the harbour
I saw the golden age of greed so brash
I saw a bull run and then I saw a crash
I saw an evil empire fracture and fall
I saw its future written on a wall
I saw peace in my time between east and west
I saw the Nobel Peace Prize to that attest
I saw a last revolt against state sponsored fear
I saw it crushed in the People’s Square
I saw my reflection in a dead pool
I saw a dreamer, a pretender, and a fool
I saw in my solitude a wonderful sight
I saw I found a voice and began to write
I saw in the mirror a living ghost
I saw I was a slave to what I feared most
I saw this decade through the eyes of a man
I saw it end just like it began
Written: May 2008
Copyright ©
Keith D Trestrail
|