a heart with wings - un coeur aux ailes

the world, society as seen through the eyes of teenagers.

 

when the sky is getting dark
and night is falling
like plaster-work on walls
people gather below the
entrances of the city centre
at the subway exits
to look around and
to talk a little bit...

 

they severely told us
that we're not yet mature
to walk on our own
and that we're all equal
but we're the only ones
with a heart with wings
and nobody knows that
we will soon fly...

 

what do we do?
what do we do tonight?
where do we go?
where do we go without any idea?
before one strangles boredom...
what do we do? where do we go?
tonight...

 

for the moment people
start to walk around the city
to the edges of this province
along streets and squares
to hook up girls
that already wait
to see the coloured
day-break outside...

 

nobody has prepared us
for this world that
they forced upon us,
without giving us a chance to be heard.

therefore we are left with
hopeless and serious thoughts
and nobody knows what
an effort it requires to accept
this society which we did not create.

out of you, out of our minds,
what a crowd
what a life, and what remains of it......
we don't want this life of
charity, fake piety,
nobody has asked for it.....

especially not us.........

Let us be,

Set us free.....

For we are just hearts with wings.

 

   French Version (Version Francais)

 

quand le ciel devient
sombre et la nuit tombe
comme le plâtrage sur les murs
on se trouve en compagnie
sous les entrées du centre
aux sorties du métro
pour y regarder dedans
et parler un peu...

ils nous ont dit sévèrement
qu’on n’est pas encore mature
pour marcher seuls
et qu’on est tous égaux
mais un coeur aux ailes
il n’y a que nous qui l’avons
et personne ne sait
qu’il volera bientôt...

ce qu’on fait
ce qu’on fait ce soir
où on va
où on va hors d’une idée
avant qu’on y étrangle l’ennui...
ce qu’on fait, où on va
ce soir...

pour l’instant on commence
à faire un tour dans la ville
jusqu’au fond de la province
par les rues et par les places
à appeler les filles
qui s’y attendent déjà
pour voir dehors
l’aube à couleurs...

que personne n’a préparé
comme le monde
qu’ils nous ont donné
sans ne nous demander rien
c’est pour cela que les pensées
aussi grandes, aussi sérieuses
on les a nous aussi et personne
ne sait quel effort c’est...

hors de toi
hors de toi, hors de la tête
quels gens, quelle vie
et combien en reste
ce qu’on veut
n’est pas ceci
la charité, pitié fausse
personne ne l’a demandée...

Author's Note

when I was a teenager these are the thoughts my friends and I talked about.

Reviews

[Damian Alan Gray]

It is so very sad, the way we treat our young. Our world is in a shambles, and it is left to the upcoming generation to attempt some semblance of emendation. This cannot happen in the same fashion that we have treated the youth in years past. It must be by allowing them the voice to begin reparations now.

[MistyJRose]

wow those were the same thoughts me and my friends thought back when i was a teenager, and that was over 10 years ago. You captured it very well in this poem. Great Job!

[Angel Bird]

Being a teenager and adolescent nowadays in this fast living and money oriented society isn't easy. Finding one's place, and growing up to be what - to be who? ... Yes I believe it is very difficult.

Great piece you've created here. Very thought provoking and excellent write!

- - -

Etre un teenager ou adolescent de nos jours dans cette soci�t� au pas de course et succomb�e � l'argent, ce n'est pas facile. Y trouver sa place, grandir pour devenir quoi - pour devenir qui? ... Oui je crois c'est tr�s difficile.

Tr�s bon travail que vous avez r�ussi ici. Incite grandement � la r�flection - excellente pi�ce!

[Valorie J. Shearer]

Having a twenty year old son myself, I find this poem very sad in the sense that he has flown away now, on his own. Making his own path, and finding his own voice! This is very moving.. take care~~~

[SM Davis]

out of you, out of our minds,
what a crowd
what a life, and what remains of it......
we don't want this life of
charity, fake piety,
nobody has asked for it.....
especially not us.........
Let us be,
Set us free.....
For we are just hearts with wings.

This is absolutely sublime. The imagery portrayed here truely depicts the mindset of the young. You've captured both the glee and the anxieties of youth here...simply and truely EXCELLENT!

Cent marguerites - Je donnerais plus s'il �tait possible de faire ainsi.

[Jd Young]

I thought this poem posed very valuable questions. Often as a younger teenager I felt things like this. But what I like about this poem is just by writing it, I see that these same problems, I was also faced with and I'm still faced with them at times. Sometimes I so badly want to scream at the top of my lungs and tell people that they just need to look at me and not look at the image of me. People are just so damn stereo-typical nowadays that they don't see things the way they should. I would say teenagers have it easier nowadays, but at times they have it harder.

This was a great write Nico. Well done and I love the fact that you also wrote in French.

[sthrlnd (annmarie)]

wow, wonderfully expressed, good job! :)

annmarie

[Nicole (Carpe Diem)]

i like that you posted both english and french versions of the piece -
your piece will get readers thinking - fantastic job

[Joseph - Michael]

"Heart With Wings"? Now that's really something I don't hear everyday. Yeah, we all wish that we could just get up and fly away like that

Anyway, it's all pretty good, not sure about the French version, but no worries...

[Norma J. Jessee]

Things seemed to be so different when I was a teenager. I never heard the word drugs. Girls didn't really go out on dates the way they do today. Boys came to our house and we played games or listened to records and danced. Things like that. There wasn't so much pressure as there seems to be today. I don't know if I could survive in todays teenager world. It's really frightening what I see now compared to when I grew up. I also came from a very very small town where everyone knew everyone.
I believe that's why parents are so strict with the young because what they see frightens them and they only wish to protect them and keep them safe from society. The world we live in today is sad, frightening and confusing, not only to the young but also for us oldies.

[TamerQtaish]

A teenager huh?
Well I sure didn't live that age right I must admit!
But hey thanks for this beautiful piece I manage to have yet another pick to what I have missed...

All the best,
Tamer Qtaish