London Remembers

Ο Ben Ocri, άνοιξε την συγκέντρωση που πραγματοποιήθηκε σήμερα στην Trafalgar Square του Λονδίνου σε μνήμη των θυμάτων της 7ης Ιουλίου με αυτό το ποίημα.

Lines in Potentis

One of the magic centres
Of the world;
One of the world’s
Dreaming places.
Ought to point the way
To the world.
Here lives the great music
Of humanity
The harmonisation of different
Histories, cultures, geniuses,
And dreams.
Ought to shine to the world
And tell everyone
That history, though unjust,
Can yield wiser outcomes.
And out of bloodiness
Can come love
Out of slave-trading
Can come a dance of souls
Out of division, unity;
Out of chaos, fiestas.
City of tradition, conquests,
And variety;
City of commerce and the famous river,
Tell everyone that the future
Is yet unmade.
Many possibilities live in your cellars.
Nightmares and illuminations.
Boredome and brilliance.
Tomorrow’s music sleeps
In undiscovered orchestras,
In unmade violins,
In coiled strings.
Spring waits by the lakes,
Listening to the unfurling daffodils.
Summer lingers with the hyperborean worms,
Awaiting an astonishing command from
The all-seeing eye of ra.
Tomorrow’s music sleeps
In our fingers,
In our awakening souls,
The blossom of our spirit,
The suggestive buds of our hearts.
Tell everyone the idea is to function together
As good musicians would
In undefined future orchestras.
Let the energy of commerce flow,
Let the vision of art heal.
Technology, provide the tools.
Workers of the world
Re-make the world
Under the guidance of inspiration
And wise laws.
Create the beautiful music
Our innermost happiness suggests.
Delight the future.
Create happy outcomes.
And while autumn dallies
With the west wind
And the weeping nightingales
And while winter clears it
Sonorous throat
At the antipodean banquets
Preparing for a speech of hoarfrost
And icicles conjured from living breath,
I want to tell everyone
Through trumpets plated with
The fragrance of roses
That a mysterious reason
Has brought us all together,
Here, now, under the all-seeing
Eye of the sun.

Ben Okri

(written Dec. 2002 and read by the poet himself at the vigil held in Trafalgar Square, 14th of July 2005, for the victims of the July 7th terrorist attacks)