Die Mauern meiner Zeit [English translation]

Memories fade and the one-day-fame goes by,

The tracks we trace today will be erased in the morning.

But there's the longing within us to leave something behind,

A footprint on the riverbank ere the current drives us on.

A mere graffiti marked off on the grey wall,

A cry wanting to exclaim: "Look on, I have been there!"

I take what's left of courage, and in the darkness

I spray the word "Hope" on the walls of my time.

The hearts are inaccessible, the glances empty and cold.

Brotherhood yields to discord and violence,

There's so much need and anxiety before our very door,

And when one smiling child we see ten other are in tears.

Heaven has turned away and trust has worn out.

It sometimes looks as if I carry all burdens on my shoulder.

Yet from deep within my impotence and grief

I spray the word “Hope” on the walls of my time.

Madness holds sway around us and the flood-tide is rising.

The world is put out of joint and yet I still mention courage.

We lose our way in the dark and yet there is a light,

A reflection of humanity that I am aware of.

When on my tombstone the weeds sway boldly in the wind,

And the words “Forever remembered” are overgrown,

Perhaps between the passwords of Hate and Bitterness

The word “Hope” remains on the walls of that time.

• Artist:Reinhard Mey