25 years
And too little to show
I have done nothing worthy of honor.
Birthday boys will be beaten today
Birthday girls
Will be sold
Bourgeois children
Will learn hatred
Proles will envy and fear.
And they will tell you
This is forever
That wingless apes
Cannot fly
And most of you
Will believe them
Because my words were not sharp enough
Not strong enough
Full of compromises
And half truths.
For they have convinced me too
That you will abandon me
And my ideals
Like she did
So many years ago.
But fortunately
History is written in epochs
And every life is a vote
Every action counts
And we have time yet
For songs of redemption.
Revenge
The laughter of our children
Far braver than we
Echo tonight comrades
With you
And with me —