Lisboa (1983) Poem by Frank Bana

Lisbon
How life runs quickly by
The painted flowers fade on the walls
Of Avenido de Liberdade
The flowers of revolution that were sown in blood
Of Africa seized by your ancient rulers
And leased to your moneyed class
Subleased to your southern farmers

Lisbon
Burst into bloom after the fallow of centuries
Freedom to sing in the streets, to withhold labour
But life still does not cease to worsen
For your Africans and poor
At work on every street without machine tools
Laying and repairing each small stone

Lisbon
You welcomed the crowds at Restadores
Massing to support the young officers
And to paint the stone where martyrs fell
Today there is no scarcity of politics
But the same men control, the same women keep clean
The sheets, the workers far from home
Sweep clean the streets of worn election posters

In Lisboa to learn Portuguese
I keep a red carnation fresh in water
In the window of my boarding room
The rain falls gently on the traffic below
The flowers that the singers hold are new
Those in the hands of practiced leaders
Are petals that discolour one by one.