A TOAST TO FALLEN EMPIRES

I watch the leaves of fall blowing in the wind on my way
It's a long bus ride between the truth and my doubts
The driver is so absorbed in his work that he can't hear the screams of his passengers.

The President's children were crossing the street singing a hymn nobody else can sing these days
A dove flew by. On its wings were words so smudged you couldn't read them anymore.
The guard dogs of the Pentagon howled in mourning as the dove flew away down the Capitol halls.
Roberts Rules of Order break into bits scattered by the winds of greed across our continent

Let's not forget this final time of the race to escape other men's dreams and the promises we have been sold, the lies we have been told
Let us stand and face all the fires and spring all the traps and avoid all the snares as they unfold

We have come a long way on this bus and sat on these benches
Trading these tickets like soldiers in trenches
Singing "Lili Marlene" to each other across No Man's Land

The corporation chairman in his perch high in the tower
Can only dream of the erotic curves on the charts on his wall

Time goes by for tyrants too and with any luck at all soon these will be gone as well

Once you wore a flowered dress and a crown of enchanted hope
You were so beautiful we couldn't believe you were in danger
That summer day that I saw you cry and felt your hand tremble
I promised to walk through every fire to restore to you the place that is yours

It is hard to live a parallel life
To be always defending
But we didn't have to wait very long until the sea broke through the dike.

Tomorrow the Santa Maria will fly away in the air
And the sky will be spangled with butterflies
And we will waltz with our girls and be in love
Drinking Dom Perignon

And drink a toast to fallen empires.

Panama Red and Jean-Luc Brosse, 2006

                                             -30-