In the City

A rich man dreams a dead man’s thoughts / Fear and trembling have beset me, / For all the riches that he’s got / Will never pacify his cravings. // Our old friend attacks his brothers, / Of which I am just a number. / With words so soft, the bar is shifted. / I’m on the fringe, o sweet asylum! // Wellsprings of violence and despair, / Destructive forces wage their war in the city. / Day and night they prowl the walls, / Oppression and deception line the streets in the city. / If I had wings I’d fly away. / This horror is overwhelming me. / Let death take them by surprise. / Let them go down to the graves alive. // Expensive suits in shadowed rooms / Decide the wars and plagues of nations. / Lusting beasts with age-old dreams / Of world control and domination, / And in this land the leaders speak / With words as smooth as oil and butter. / Yet war and death are in their hearts, / Their words are swords drawn for mass murder. // Wellsprings of violence and despair, / Destructive forces wage their war in the city. / Day and night they prowl the walls, / Oppression and deception line the streets in the city. / If I had wings I’d fly away. / This horrors overwhelming me. / Let death take them by surprise. / Let them go down to the graves alive.