Olympian

Into the water, so clear and blue The crowds are cheering, willing her through She wins the heat, but the next brings tears The dream is over for four more years Back in the homeland she strained and strived Each day she sweated, from e'er a child To clinch the gold and the coloured rings And give the hearts of the masses wings But darkness came to her Syria With bombs and bullets, the reign of war Through burning Lebanon, she had to flee Her dreams behind her, down to the sea Into a boat there, by dark of night With 20 strangers, all taking flight So overburdened, the engine fails In open water without a sail They're too far out now, no turning back Nothing behind them to bring them back The young and old now will surely drown Miles from safe harbour without a sound Into the water, so dark and cold Her and her sister, they pull the boat Their faces frozen, limbs tired and weak Over the abyss of the Aegean Sea "Remember when we swam before school The sea is only a bigger pool It's just the gold now is in the boat Tied to these rings at the ends of rope" And if the ancients had known of her deeds She'd be the pride of all ancient Greece She'd have the gold and the laurel wreaths Great Alexander would have kissed her cheek And from that day forward most everywhere They'd know the fame of that brave young girl Who lost her home but who saved the dream And held it gleaming for all to see Who gave back hope to a world at siege And showed through courage disgraced athletes Who gave back meaning most real again They chant that noble Olympia Olympia Olympia Olympia Into the water, so clear and blue The crowds are cheering, willing her through She wins the heat, but the next brings tears The dream is over for four more years