He Comes Into A Wider World

Melodians: Rivers of Babylon

Dennis Brown: Rivers of Babylon

When a captive lion
steps out of his cage,
he comes into a wider world
than the lion who has known
only the wilds.
While he was in captivity,
there were only
two worlds for him--
the world of the cage,
and the world
outside the cage.
Now he is free.
He roars. He attacks people.
He eats them.
Yet he is not satisfied,
for there is no third world
that is neither
the world of the cage
nor the world outside the cage.
--Yukio Mishima

Steve Earle and The Train Band: Rivers of Babylon...1/17/96