THE TWO ALWAYS NEW ONES
         
 Fate and behavior and all that holds sway
         
 do not cease amazing us, almost every day,
        
 leaving us with a tail in the mud,
                 
 while the head, chopped off, is lying in blood.
   
 They often saddle us with the mad and unkind
      
 and deprive us of the more tolerant mind.
         
 But the two always new ones still affect all,
     
 continue to change, yet worsen nor fall.
          
 Many foster their imagined fate,
                  
   
 however silly, and oft sadly out of date,
         
 clinging to the dream of the old night,
           
 under the spell of an established might.
          
 They learn of better things with a shock,
         
 afraid of what the new day may have in stock.
     
 But the two always new ones will not wane,
        
   
   
 and their integrity gives us hope again.
          
     
     
 
   
      
      Vincent
       van Mechelen
       59.ENE-79.CEN
      
      
       
        
         [MP3
          FILE, 1.3 MB, 1:20, MONO
          WITH SYMMETRICAL BACKGROUND MUSIC]
         
         
        
       
      
 The title and much of the first eight lines of this poem were inspired by
 the work of the Arabic female poet al-Hansa from Medina, Arabia, who lived
 fourteen to fifteen centuries ago.
 For more information in
 Deze Taal see
 De twee altijd nieuwen.
 (The version in
 This Language above is the
 current one; the version read in the audio held until 79 aSWW.)