Into The Abyss

We cut the cord. We breathe. We cry.
We drain. We suck. We grow. We thrive.
We come of age. We come to hate.
We bloom. We fade. We descend.
Into the abyss.

INHUMANKIND

I know, I know. It was a long time ago
and you’re tired of black-and-white images.
I know you’re old. All the stories were told.
I got unquenchable thirst for knowledge.
What’s your excuse? What’s your excuse?
What do you say in your own defence?
It’s never too late, it’s never too late
for justice and repentance.
Don’t turn a blind eye, don’t turn a blind eye,
don’t live the lie any longer.
Companion in crime. Float with the tide.
Arms raised high. A willing sacrifice.
There are people who deny.
There are people who defy.
There are people who provoke.
There are people who team up.
There are leaders  who bait.
There are baiters who agitate.
There are haters who incite.
And the lynch mob is on fire.

Nip it in the bud before it is too late.
Nip it in the bud, there is latent hate.
Nip it in the bud, better stay awake.
Nip it in the bud. Resist the beginnings.

What do you see? And don’t you think
a picture says more than a 1000 words.
The cheering crowd in a glorious mess.
Shards of shattered glass. Burning synagogues.
The hour of birth of pogrom and death.
Oh, you can’t remember anything?
Play the victim’s role in your comfort zone.
Shift the guilt and blame onto the others.

Nip it in the bud before it is too late.
Nip it in the bud, devil incarnate.
Nip it in the bud, better stay awake.
Nip it in the bud. Resist.

Persecution. Assault. Race holocaust.
Ghettos. Death camps.
Torture. Torment. Oppression.
Defeat. Hunger and greed.
Out of control. A species exposed.

Nip it in the bud, better stay awake…

THE LAST MISSION

What have we done?  What did we do wrong?
Where do we belong? We’re here on our own.
I‘m palestinian. I‘ve come to understand.
A generation born dead
in this small strip of land.

We’re living on our prayers. Forever in a daze.
Each new day we’re facing death.
The roads have all been closed.
Relief supplies are lost.
Our house is broken stones.
Destroyed by drones.

No pure water, medication. Trapped in isolation.
The young ones take up arms.

Freedom. Freedom. Freedom isn’t free.

They bombard our city.
They closed our borders.
They withheld our aid. It’s hell on earth.
We are expected to bow in submission.
Accepting our fate. Bereft of our rights.

Freedom. Freedom. Freedom isn’t free.

How lucky I am that death brings me the sunshine that I go
to the front that I burn
in the name of Islam. Say goodbye to Gaza.
One last time. Companions.
Kneel down in the dust. Pray for me.
Allah will not forsake me. I’m a martyr.
Dying in the cause of jihad.
My last mission. My redemption.
I’ve been chosen to become a shahid. A hero.
Strapping the bomb on my belly. Take a bus ride.
Sacrifice myself.
I know what I do. Don’t hate me. I’ll take you with me.
This is my last mission. A sacred explosion.
A huge blast that will be heard throughout Jerusalem.

An outcry.
A firestorm.
Freedom.
Freedom isn’t free.

An outcry.
A firestorm.
Freedom.

THE SHEPHERD AND HIS SHEEP

I am God sent. A minister of Jesus Christ.
I’m a reverend.  I’m a messenger of faith.
I’m a high priest. A servant of divinity.
My love is sacred. And my desire is unfulfilled.

God says “you are the one”.
I’m the Lord, thy God, my kingdom come.
I’m the instructor. You’re the disciple.
Give me devotion. Obedient child.
“Our father in heaven. Hallowed by thy name.
The power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen”
I’m the saviour.

I’m a cleric. You’re my favourite acolyte.
We have a secret. And God is always on our side.
God the almighty. The alpha and the omega.
We are united. And thy sins are forgiven.

God says “Love thy children”
Praise the Lord. Bend down, shy boy.
God brings deliverance. Gods makes you pure.
God will forgive you. God will be the cure.
So I absolve you from your sins
in the name of the father
and of the son and of the holy ghost.
I say my prayers and do what I’ve been told.
I am the saviour. I am the saviour.

I am the saviour. Prepare for salvation.
I am the saviour.

I’m your master. You’re the puppet on the string.
We’re bound together. Christian love.
The purest thing.
I’m the confessor. I’m richly blessed with dignity.
Pray and surrender. And here is your epiphany.

Scum of the earth. In the name of God.
For heaven’s sake. We’re worlds apart.
Light a candle. Pray the rosary.
Sacrifice the lamb. Worship me.
I don’t give a damn. Anyway.
Take my spirit. I give myself away.
No shepherd and one herd.
I take the primrose path. In the name of God.

If I were God for a day. It would be a great day.
There would be no religion.
I would abolish religion.
If I were God for a day. It would be a fine day.
Ingenious solution. Worldshaking revolution.

Sheep on earth. In the name of God.
Put your faith in me. We’re worlds apart.
The lost, the lonely, the stranded and the poor.
Pilgrims to paradise. Heaven’s open door.
The shepherd and his sheep.
Millenial miscreed. Heretic belief.
Eternal harm. Divine hypocrisy. Hypocrisy.
In the name… in the name…

THE PHOTOGRAPHER

Always on the hunt. Focused on the target.
Finger at the ready. No fear. No fear.

Following wars. Following disasters.
Craving for sensation.
Ashamed to be human.

Apathetic machines.
Function precisely.
In a world under bombardment.
Yet another war zone. Left in disbelief.
Terror and destruction.
The kind that churns your stomach.
I’m watching from the sidelines.

I prefer the click of the rifle
to the click of the camera.

A motherless girl. Forsaken and neglected.
What a mystical motif. Amid sullen scenery.
A chetnik pulls the pin.
A grenade in a child’s hand.
I just count the seconds.
Push the shutter and the soldiers grin.

I prefer the click of the rifle to the click of the camera.
I prefer death.

A snapshot for the world. Piece of evidence.
The end of something substantial.
The end of something meaningful.

A child without a name.
A child that could’ve been saved.
Forgiveness is impossible. To forget is impossible.

A snapshot for the world. A convincing argument.
The end of something sensual. The end of something beautiful.

LIBRICIDE

The more I try the less I remember. I think I’ve lost my memory. A long time has passed since the day of surrender.
Since my life just smells like kerosene.
Track down the dissidents and crooks.
Light the fuse and burn the books.
It’s just business as usual to me.

Feed my mind with cheapest thrills.
I overdosed, overdosed.
Feed my mind with little pills.
To go comatose, comatose.

Oh what a delight to watch television.
A brave new world on wall-size screens.
Keep on gaping. Give up thinking.
Give up sleeping. Keep on listening.
To the constant stream of the mind machine.

Feed my mind with cheapest thrills…

Hunting. Tracing. Chasing. Catching. Ripping. Crushing. Dousing. Lighting. Routine. Bloody routine.

Purify your mind. History rewind. Cleansing time.
We are the firemen. We’re gonna take it down.
Burn it to the ground. Flames of pureness.
The beauty of the sparks. The silence of the dark.
Ash of sin. We are the firemen. We’re gonna ease your pain. Gonna make you sane. Flames of healing.

Inflame and devastate. We’re the firemen.
Obey. Reveal your fate. We’re the firemen.

Free speech under fire. Free opinion under fire.
Destruction of culture. Erasure of our future.

Feed my mind, I defy. Libricide. Slow motion suicide.

THE HUMAN ABYSS

[UNSUSPECTING]

We were born into a world of innocence
where we raised our flag without fear.
We had the luxury of a gentle childhood.
Unconcerned about fortunes of war.
We had found so many safe places.
The treehouse. The sunflower field.
The cavern. The orchard. The playground.
Where we’ve danced and played at ease.
Where we’ve laughed.
Where we were dreaming our dreams.
Where we took peace for granted.

We’d been clueless children, unsuspecting.
We’d been friends forever, inseparable.
A band of blood brothers, indivisible.
We had dreams. We had plans.
We were young.
We had no fear. We knew no bounds.
We were strong.
We took peace for granted.

[REVEALING]

Never knew, never knew, never knew how
the madness had begun. Never realized the writing on the wall.
Never thought, never thought, never thought the
seeds of evil had been sown.
We’d just worked the fields for poor harvests.

Never knew. Never knew. Never knew
hate yet again had been reborn. Supremacists were taking over.
Never thought. Never thought a storm of change came
whipping in. A change of atmosphere.

History is always repeating. Revealing the evil.

Never thought, never thought, never believed that seemingly good men.
Husbands, fathers, brothers, neighbors.
Never knew, never knew, they could turn into
psychopathic killers, mass murderers, maniacal rapists.

History is always repeating. Revealing the evil.
History is always repeating.
Written in stone. Revealing the evil.

[TESTIFYING]

Jahanara, is this you?
You once told me that your name
means ‘conqueress of the world’.
What had become of you?
What had become of the world
since the days of our childhood?
No stone remained untouched.
There’s no peace in our souls.

Come to witness. Raise awareness.
Have the courage to speak up.
Come to witness. Raise awareness.
Tell your story. Don’t give up.

Jahanara, are you there?
Will you come to testify?
You’re a human monument. A witness to death.
You’re a voiceless screamer silenced by life.
Your heart had turned to stone,
but the truth is in your eyes.

Come to witness…
And keep it heard, over and over again.
And keep it heard.
This must never happen again.

[REPEATING]

During the endless siege of Sarajevo.
Hundreds of thousands of bombs rained upon the city.
Thousands of shell explosions
left their imprints on the pavement.
Hundreds of concrete scars that almost look like roses.

A reminder of the innocent blood
that was spilled on these roads.
A recollection of war, of bloody disintegration.
A testimony of hell, a symbol of man’s depravity.
„This must never happen again“
say the Sarajevo roses.

History is always repeating. Revealing the evil.
History is always repeating.

[REMEMBERING]

Never. Ever. (Forget)

[RESUMING]

In another country. In another town.
War goes on. War goes on.
Other victims. Other offenders.
Lights go out. Death goes on.
Men of hate in a world of greed.
Other heroes. Other sheep.
Another God. Another prayer.
The story‘s told. The story‘s told.

A LONG TRAIL

Down in the trenches. Days are very long.
No hope of deliverance. No hope at all.
Try to find some protection.
Hours of deceitful calm.
Another storm is approaching.
There’s constant harm.
Almost children. Wearing man-sized uniforms.
Nothing but armed pawns.
Lost sons of the fatherland.

It’s a long, long trail. On the road to nowhere.
It’s a long, long way down. Into the nothing.
It’s a long, long trail. Senses are fading.
It’s a long long day of waiting
for the end to come.

Down in the trenches. Army of volunteers.
Take up our stations. Wait for the enemy fire.
Shivering and trembling. A picture of misery.
Stay on the defensive line. Fire back in fear.

It’s a long, long trail…

We stand. We flinch. We trip. We fall.
We rise. We hurt. We know nothing at all.
We steal. We lie. We pretend to empathize.
We breed. We kill. We create to destroy.
We learn. We forge. We live in opulence.
We give. We take. We bathe in ignorance.
We rot. We sink. We decay in the human abyss.