Tesson de Verre (Shards of Glass)

Somewhere in the city

Somewhere in the city
That never sleeps
There's a playground
Where children fight over the swings
And the teeter tot sways back and forth
Creak, creak
Children fly up at each end
Smiling to the baby sky

Somewhere in the city
That clutches their dusty knees in fear
There is burning inferno light
And scurrying lanky limbs
That trip in a scissor motion
Thumping on the dusty ground
Thumping in the air
Reverberating through souls
Thumping of the hearts

Somewhere in the city
That never sleeps
The children sing of a day they will never come to see
With smiles and dirtied cheeks
And play with empty bullet shells
Lining them up like dominos
And then with a flick of their fingers
The buildings topple down from the sky
One by one.
All at once.

The children cry "mama, papa" to the ashes in the ground.

Somewhere in the city
That never sleeps
The axe chips into the tree
Once more
And it's bent on its hinges and snaps
And all the people fall over
And drown
In a puddle of red

Somewhere in the city
That never sleeps
The children try to run
With their sawed off feet
There are no homes
But the streets

Somewhere in the city
That never sleeps
There is a playground
The children don't fight over the swings
And the teeter tot goes
Creak, creak
But there are no children
Only black earth
And empty seats