Aida

She leafed through
her memories
her snapshots
her taboos
her madonnas
her rosaries
and a thousand seas
and alalà
her linen and silk
dresses
fishnet stockings
Marlene and Charlot
and after June
the great conflict
and then Egypt
it's another age
marching swastikas and federals
under the streetlights
the darkness
and then the return
to a divided country
darker in the face
redder with love

Aida how beautiful you are
Aida your battles

Aida
your battles
the compromises
poverty
low wages
hunger knocks
Russian terror
Christ and Stalin

Aida
the constituent assembly
democracy
and who has it
and then thirty years
of safaris
among antelopes and jaguars
jackals and rabbits

Aida
how beautiful you are