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.

[Marie]

Excellent piece. Thanks for sharing and the pics work too.

[Patsy]

That was really nice... Flashback to my teen years right there...

[Robert Luna]

I really love the way you write and capture such a raw energy among your words. You tell a tale so vividly that anyone that reads your words is able to see them and feel them other than just read them. They do not remain just laying upon a page they take a life of their own. It is always a pleasure to read your words.


Well Done!!!!!

[Carole]

This is flat beautiful, Nico. I presume you aren't a teen any more, but you sure do have a handle on life, and I think Teens have the ability to change the world. Teens across this nation united for one cause with a clear purpose and direction...There's just no doubt about it. They deserve to be heard. Very well written and the pictures are great. They add so much. Well done!

[Prose-full]

"before one strangles boredom..."--love this visual...nice arrangement of words
"nobody has prepared us
for this world that
they forced upon us,"--------great stanza...my favorite....

thanks for sharing this with me...my fav of yours so far....
enjoyed the read my brother of the pen...

it is nice that you translated from your native tongue...very sweet...
be well.....

[Alexzan Marie]

What a wonderful expression of how it feels to long for freedom and for the understanding that teenagers are not all blind, not all naive to the world around them, but rather, the freest of free spirits and the most open to love and experience. It is beautiful and nostalgia- and thought-provoking and, I would say eye-opening but we have all been there, all felt what seems to be the bonds of teenager-hood weighing us down. This is just beautiful. I love it!

[George Love]

Very powerful and amid all the thoughts, questions and pain of teenage wonder, you came through it all witha marvelous talent. Well written and expressed work!

[Silvia - Scribo, Ergo S..]

What could I add that has NOT been written yet? - Powerful, beautiful, both candid and dreamy at the same time.

Funny thing is - or maybe only natural - we�ve all been there (well, at least I have) ... and for anybody who ever read Goethe�s "Die Leiden des jungen Werther" (Young Werther�s sufferings), it�s crystal-clear that this has been the fate of teenager since the dawn of time ... with changing tapestries of changing societies, that�s all.

Part of growing up, I guess, part of growing. This being lost and confused and haunted and hopeful and cocksure (does one still say COCKSURE?!?!?! LOL) and both ready to take on the world and scared to face it ... we need to go there ...

Still, wonderfully written and those (almost forgotten) teenage feelings emphatically evoked. Love the French version. It�s even more musical. xxx

[Phil & Bren's Colla..]

Awesome. Great job.

[The Autumn Faerie]

oOoooooo!
I love the French version!
J'adore!