BURN THE PROCLAMATIONS...
Burn the proclamations, trample the decrees:
accursed bayonets are goring us again!
Curse the laws and bureaucratic rabies –
Freedom! – let it be the only order.
Freedom! freedom! – the heart is pounding...
Again they’re crucifying us like slaves before the people.
Again there are shackles, prisons, and ramrods,
and the captive word is hidden beneath coattails.
Who has the right to coerce a man?
Who can turn night into day?
And who’s so wise to hang us all together
for the truth, our only sin?
Burn the proclamations, trample the decrees:
accursed bayonets are goring us again.
Curse the laws and bureaucracy’s rabies –
Freedom! – let it be the only order.
1919