Mecca Normal

Revolution pine

Mecca Normal


They came for the Jews, 
but I am not a Jew so I said nothing.
They came for the children,
but I am not a child so I kept quiet.
They took the trade unionists, 
and I stood aside 
because I am not a trade unionist.
The voice goes on 
over the candle in barb-wire logo. 
The voice goes on to say, 
"When they came for me,
there was no one left to stand up. 
When they came for me, I was alone."
A harmless man 
wants to keep an empty mind.
He doesn't want to say much 
about feminism or activism.
Maybe because these words 
don't fit neatly into songs.
He will say this though: 
Wouldn't it be better 
if we all just lived togther 
without doing harm?
It's not like he ever had it really good, 
he likes to play guitar, 
he's not one of the bad guys.
He wants to instill happiness 
in whoever hears him sing. 
He remains calm in himself 
knowing this calmness will spread. 
Recently he read 
that energy from the pine needles 
can be collected in fingertips. 
We're walking along a busy road 
and he says, "Is this a pine?" 
And I say, "This is a pine 
and that's another kind of pine over there." 
My fingers are out now too, 
pointing, believing in pine.
"Zap!" He collects energy. 
Or is this how we make ourselves feel better? 
Or is this how we make ourselves feel well?
We can single him out 
when we're deciding 
who is political enough,
and whose expression is more useful.
A harmless man 
with an emptied mind 
at the side of a busy road 
in the rain, makes me laugh, saying zap. 
His fingers on long pine needles. 
Long pine needles. 
And later tonight over hot cups of tea, 
someone will give me 
one more account of the demonstration, 
one more account of the revolution.