Herman Van Veen
Miscellaneous
I Can't See a Friend Cry
Of course there is a lot of fighting and for many the music is silent,
the tenderness has died
and the illusions are sick to death .
Of course everything can be bought
for whoever offers the most
and flowers are broken
but seeing a friend cry...I can't.
Of course I have we lost
and death awaits us at the end,
with our shoulders far forward
we are barely standing.
Of course we have often been deceived
and lie birds in the reeds
that have flown for the last time
but to see a friend cry...I cannot.
Cities are being destroyed
by children of fifty years old
then the suffering is soon forgotten again
for new sorrow or new danger.
And the stations full of lost people,
too far gone for any sorrow,
no truth whatsoever who made it,
but seeing a friend cry...I can't.
Of course mirrors have integrity:
not courage enough to be a Jew,
not elegant enough to be a nigger,
no light, only false appearance.
So trapped in one's own coldness
that one hides from love,
like that at the end of every desire,
but then to see a friend...who is crying.

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