The days grow longer for smaller prizes
I feel like a stranger to all surprises
You can have them,
I don't want them.
I wear a different kind of garment,
In my rehearsal for retirement
The lights are cold again, they dance below me.
I turn to old friends but, they do not know me,
All except the beggar, he remembers...
I put a penny down for payment,
In my rehearsals for retirement.
I could have known that the end would end in laughter, still
I tell my daughter that it doesn't matter.
The stage is tainted, with empty voices
The ladies painted, they have no choices
I wear my colors from the movement,
My T-shirts lie in tatters by the tournament,
In my rehearsal for retirement
Where are the government's
who killed our communities?
...and turned strong women and men into little babies?
Where are the rebels, now we need them?
Now they are welcomed.
I wait in anger and amusement
In my rehearsal for retirement
If I'd a known the end would end in laughter,
Still I would tell my daughter
that it doesn't matter
Farewell my young strangers
Farewell to my humanity
Are you still fighting for change,
Or have you failed me, miserably?
Yet, I'll make one last gesture void of pleasure
I'll paint your memory on the monument
In my rehearsals for retirement.
Now I know the end
will end in laughter,
and still I tell my daughter
that it doesn't matter.