Ouagadougou

When I was a boy
I could draw a map of my world
What it was then and what it could be
A world without chains noble and free

And like a river
the slowmoving currents of my heart
flowed in a dream from here to eternity
no limits on what any man could be

what will hold you down
what will drown you
are the words that tie you to the ground
that cover your eyes and blind you

and the world, as it slumbers it burns
as it turns it burns itself to ash
and the whole world afraid of itself
aches to be under the lash

They close all the doors
pull down and bolt the shutters
cast out the friends once we made
forget we were brothers

and the world, as it burns it dies
as it lies it chokes on its words
and the whole world consuming itself
until there is nothing left

I will not close my doors
to all the things I once held dear
I will still believe the world is free
and in what it is and can still be.