A poem by HK & The Saltimbanks
This is my first post in a couple of weeks. I intend on blogging more in the nearby future. I am taking a break to recap, reconsider and re-energize life. For now I want to share a beautiful poem by HK & The Saltimbanks, a French music group, published December 23, 2021. I translated this from French.
Long Live All Who Can’t Be Fooled
We are the poets, we are the artists
Our weapons are words and guitar strings
Drum rolls please: troubadours enter stage
Musical notes, stars, smiles and stares
We’re seeing these days, in these strange times
A crazy twist: suddenly we’re troublemakers
We’re on the fringe, we’re atypical
We’re from another era, we’re romantic
“Have you not heard, soldiers? We are at war!”
And who says ‘war’ says ‘listen up’: obey orders
Enemies, prisoners, but also scapegoats
On whom all the well-mannered people can spit
If integrity is gone, we’ll have to stay strong
At the sight of teary faces, heavy hearts and empty bellies
We are sweet dreamers who won’t close their eyes
We see the filthy, the cruel, the sordid, the envious
We see the vultures; we are the doves
We see the hunters who think they rule the world
We see our chosen ones, our superior elites
Who crawl for a penny under dictators’ shoes
We read the newspapers that, for an article or two
Sell a failing, losing truth
A truth approved by the majority shareholder
And who, by no means, should be harming business
There’s so much to do, we’re taking our parts
We will sow hope deep in the hearts
We will remain faithful to the children we still are
If all this is a circus, we’ll win this game
So let’s play! Let’s play, okay?! Since life is given to us
Life is sacred to us, like a pearl of dew
The Earth is our stage and the sun is our beacon
Let’s sow joy, night and day, we will reap sooner or later
We know, they’ll do anything to take our mornings away from us
Could it be that one fateful evening, we’ll hold a weapon in our hands?
One thing is certain, we’re working every day
So that this one-way trip never happens
Long live the free and brotherly souls who refuse
To resign to obey without thinking, or to walk in line
Long live all who can’t be fooled
Long live us, drunk enough to live and to sing
~HK & The Saltimbanks, December 23, 2021
