what on earth are you going to do
nasser half-jokingly used to ask
with all those scraps of paper
they'll come in useful i laughed

history is written with leisure to reminisce
an even temperment
hindsight selectively applied
a luxury not afforded those completely given to their times

you and i will have to sit
down i said write all of this
alone all i can do is attempt to recapture
the spirit of the time as we experienced it

history is written...

you'll have to do it yourself he said
i won't be there when the time comes my friend
people with a job like mine
burn their candle at both ends

history is dissected and shown out of context
unpredictable events
in retrospect are made to fit
an inevitable patter and action and consequence

leisure to reminisce
an even temperment
selectively applied
given to their times