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.

[J. Hampton]

Nico ~

A true writer of perspetive...
I always say we confuse the young
one minute we say..." grow up you're old enough to know better"
the next we say... " you're only a child"

these two stanzas say it all...( none of our kids asked to come here)

"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."

Blesssssssssssss

[Siddartha Beth Pierce]

This is truly a sad portrayal of what teenagers are exposed to in this day and age. Well done. Although, I felt more hopeful and had alot of fun when I was a teenager - in fact, I would not mind visiting those days again. I suppose it depends on where you are born and what kind of family you have to support you along your path. Thank you - well done.
Light,
Siddartha

[Skye Jules]

That was so beautiful and amazing. Oh my gosh...you have no idea how amazing your message is. It is so moving and so true. We, as youth, try to explain about our society, but the older generation seems to dismiss us as being incompetent and juvenile. But your poem is such a true message. Oh how I would love to read this poem to my AP Lit class to my teacher who is constantly dismissing our generation as incompetent, when I really think we are trying to create a new society that the older generation is putting to shambles and cannot seem to hold onto.

[Mary Elizabeth Meade St..]

Very beautifully written with powerful emotions conveyed in the excellent choices of words and descriptions used. It is sad how our youth of today seem so lost...and very few adults seem to notice or care.

[R J Askew]

I enjoyed this insight into teens. I suppose I was a teen myself once, but I don't remember thinking anything. In fact I can't remember being alive at all when I was a teen. And the teens just have to take what they find...what else can they do? The odd revolution rips things up every now and again, but then the teens grow old and get rich and no longer want to hang out! Maybe staying a child is the secret.

[Erin Phoenix]

This is so beautifuly written., :)

[Beautifully Tragic xPoe..]

another wonderful write. sad the way our world is today...


Great Write.

[JC Fox]

Another wonderful poem

[laceyjane23]

great job! i really enjoyed this poem! the images that you included fit perfectly, its awsome that you included a french version as well! nice job!
laceyjane

[Shadows of Sight]

The youth of today are always pressed upon by the patterns of the parents and adults of yesterday. Parents try to teach, to mold, control and shelter. Yet when it comes time for the youth to step out into the world, how can they with out some knowledge of how it works and why. You speak alot to a problem that occurs with every generation and at veries age gaps within society. Perhaps adults need to start talking to the young and asking what it is that "YOU" feel you need to learn to deal with this world that you have been born into.
Great Poem! :)