New dark age

And while we dance beneath the laser beams
the world gets on with its lopsided turning
we're phantoms in our mothers' dreams
and on the village green the books are burning

and as we dance to the new disco beat
the techno-state reverts to the old straight-jacket
and the sex-shows annex the heat
while down the block they run the cocaine racket

         crystal clear in halogen
         on the bloody stage
         all the women all the men
         in the new dark age
         all the pretty children
         of the new dark age

and while we frolic in the acid rain
we valiantly save some waste materials
vicariously sharing the pain
the ersatz trauma of the TV serials

the pub will have its token immigrant
being queried on outlandish cooking
so much we do not understand
the answers may be there, we're just not looking

       refr.

                   if you want to go and write
                   make sure you've got somewhere to hide
                   because next door they're learning
                   all about book-burning
                   stomachs turning with rage
                   in the new dark age

1989. Tekst n.a.v. fatwa tegen Salman Rushdie