Carnival...

I've walked these streets
a virtual stage
it seemed to me
make up on their faces
actors took their
places next to me

I've walked these streets
in a carnival
of sights to see
all the cheap thrill seekers
the vendors and the dealers
they crowded around me

have I been blind
have I been lost
inside my self and
my own mind
hypnotized
mesmerized by what my eyes have seen?

I've walked these streets
in a spectacle of wealth and poverty
in the diamond markets
the scarlet welcome carpet
that they just rolled out for me

I've walked these streets
in the mad house asylum
they can be
where a wild eyed misfit prophet
on a traffic island stopped
and he raved of saving me

have I been blind
have I been lost
inside my self and
my own mind
hypnotized
mesmerized
by what my eyes have seen?

have I been wrong
have I been wise
to shut my eyes
and play along
hypnotized
paralyzed
by what my eyes have found
by what my eyes have seen
what they have seen?

have I been blind
have I been lost
inside my self and
my own mind
hypnotized
mesmerized
by what my eyes have found
in that great street carnival
in that carnival?

~Natalie Merchant