Take your banners; men,
Take them among the cold winter streets
And weave in autonomous lines,
Your warm breath illuminating
bloodied statistics.
Take your banners; you dreamers.
Expose the youthful eyes
To what you consider to be just.
Let them know you think it true.
Fight for your cause, humble warriors.
Bring the troops home, if you must.
Let the talk of change flow.
But when your warm breath turns cold;
Retreat.
Let gold-paved disillusion resume,
And take to the woods, you cowards.
Have you no idea how to inspire?
Take your banners in flight; men,
And bring your cause to the wild.
Stake your words at the base of the trees.
"Ha,"
The wise ones will reply--
Hinting at a fact they have long known;
At the words nearly engraved in their withering limbs:
"nothing ever changes"
Take them among the cold winter streets
And weave in autonomous lines,
Your warm breath illuminating
bloodied statistics.
Take your banners; you dreamers.
Expose the youthful eyes
To what you consider to be just.
Let them know you think it true.
Fight for your cause, humble warriors.
Bring the troops home, if you must.
Let the talk of change flow.
But when your warm breath turns cold;
Retreat.
Let gold-paved disillusion resume,
And take to the woods, you cowards.
Have you no idea how to inspire?
Take your banners in flight; men,
And bring your cause to the wild.
Stake your words at the base of the trees.
"Ha,"
The wise ones will reply--
Hinting at a fact they have long known;
At the words nearly engraved in their withering limbs:
"nothing ever changes"
cool poem man. you seem to write poems that use accessible language while maintaining an element of mystique. i really like this stanza:
ReplyDeleteTake your banners; you dreamers.
Expose the youthful eyes
To what you consider to be just.
Let them know you think it true.
it's challenging & inspiring. take it easy on us older guys though. even the wise ones can grow cowardly & disillusioned at times. deal tenderly with us. how about this:
take your banners; youthful dreamers.
expose the aging eyes
to what you consider be vital.
let them know you think it so.
great seein' you at the show the other night. wish we'd had more time to talk. tough to gab in small intimate venues like the S.A. especially when the music is so good. we'll have to pick up where we left off sometime...the bit about you and a buddy writing a script. would love to hear about it. doug