bout de papier, Vol. 8, No. 2 (1991) — Spring 1991 // Printemps 1991, p. 35
On May 16, 1990, the President of Lithuania, Vytautus Landsbergus, said:
“The west never promised us anything… We could only think that everything the
West has said had some foundation: that the principles and faith in humanity,
democracy, people and nations’ rights were worth something. If we were deceived,
then only we are to blame.”
“Pull down this wall, Mr. Gorbachev”
President Reagan cried to the world
Politician Gorby, recognizing
rhetoric when he heard it, ignored him.
But people heard, and the wall came down.
So it was left to politician Bush
to sound alarums. “Stay at home, East Germans.
Work to make your country democratic.”
Will they never learn that politicians
talking of Principles, Democracy
Faith in Humanity and Sovereign Rights
don’t expect to be taken seriously.
Problems arise when power falls to those,
such as Landsbergus, Havel and the like,
academics and artists who believe
words have meanings, leaders can be trusted
You’d think they’d know the value of these words
as Dubcek learned one fleeting spring in Prague
and the Hungarians before him.
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Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 8, No. 2 (1991) — Spring 1991 // Printemps 1991, p. 35. Read the rest of this issue →
