The important things

a poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

Today spring came to the old capital Lisboa,
which was just as well thousand had taken to the street
to protest against the American war of aggression against Iraq.
The great and the good were there too,
retired politicians, famous artists
and well-known faces from the media.

OK, so they wore suits
but were tie less to show their solidarity with the masses of ordinary people.
There could have been more people
but Benefica, the local team, was playing an important match,
for a moment the “war thing” had to wait
and how am I to blame them for that?

Dogs barked excitedly by this going on,
cats less so, they sat in trees licking ruffled fur.
Later when a soft darkness wrapped this great city in non-aggressive silk,
lovers walked in parks when not doing peaceful stuff
and for those who fear intimacy
there were short skirted women,
who charge for those things.