lunedì 16 settembre 2013

Non impareremo mai....

The green fields of France


oh how do you do, young willy mcbride
do you mind if i sit here down by your graveside
and rest for a while in the warm summer sun
i've been walking all day, and im nearly done
and i see by your gravestone you were only nineteen
when you joined the great fallen in 1916
well i hope you died quick
and i hope you died clean
oh willy mcbride, was is it slow and obscene

[Chorus]
did they beat the drums slowly
did the play the fife lowly
did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
did the band play the last post and chorus
did the pipes play the flowers of the forest

and did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind
in some loyal heart is your memory enshrined
and though you died back in 1916
to that loyal heart you're forever nineteen
or are you a stranger without even a name
forever enshrined behind some old glass pane
in an old photograph torn, tattered, and stained
and faded to yellow in a brown leather frame

[Chorus]
did they beat the drums slowly
did the play the fife lowly
did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
did the band play the last post and chorus
did the pipes play the flowers of the forest

the sun shining down on these green fields of france
the warm wind blows gently and the red poppies dance
the trenches have vanished long under the plow
no gas, no barbed wire, no guns firing down
but here in this graveyard that's still no mans land
the countless white crosses in mute witness stand
till' man's blind indifference to his fellow man
and a whole generation were butchered and damned

[Chorus]
did they beat the drums slowly
did the play the fife lowly
did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
did the band play the last post and chorus
did the pipes play the flowers of the forest

and i can't help but wonder oh willy mcbride
do all those who lie here know why they died
did you really believe them when they told you the cause
did you really believe that this war would end wars
well the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame
the killing and dying it was all done in vain
oh willy mcbride it all happened again
and again, and again, and again, and again

[Chorus]
did they beat the drums slowly
did the play the fife lowly
did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
did the band play the last post and chorus
did the pipes play the flowers of the forest

domenica 15 settembre 2013

Strada??

Va bene, lo ammetto: magari molto in fondo, magari nascosto, ma un filo di masochismo devo averlo. Camminare fa bene, per la mia schiena è indispensabile, però decidere di fare la camminata domenicale sotto il diluvio lascia sempre un piccolo spazio di dubbio verso la mia integrità mentale. Sia quel che sia, oggi mi sono fatta i miei 8km e rotti come al solito e sono tornata a casa furibonda. Si, perchè posso capire che i comuni abbiano problemi di soldi, ma asfaltare una strada bene o male non è una questione monetaria, ma in primo luogo è una questione di sicurezza e poi anche di decoro (parola ormai obsoleta, a quanto pare...). Per più di tre quarti del percorso ho dovuto scegliere se camminare al centro della strada oppure sguazzare in un paio di cm di acqua, e già questo sarebbe sufficiente a giustificare la mia rabbia. Ma per un tratto di 2/300m non ho avuto scelta: ho camminato con l'acqua alle caviglie. E questa sarebbe una strada? La pendenza per il drenaggio? L'idea che qualunque lavoro vada sempre e comunque svolto a regola d'arte? A volte mi pare di essere un'alieno....