The strong man, tatooed on the arms
The weak man at his last meal
The lone man at the foot of the cross
Look for dignity
The wise man in the strand of straw
The young man between two fights
The poor man in the stained-glass window
Look for dignity
Someone died, how?
One can’t say
But dignity was the first to leave
I’ve scoured the town, crossed the cities
Run as much as I could run
I’ve searched in me, I’ve searched all around
I’ve searched by night and by day
I’ve asked the cops at every crossroads
Have you seen dignity
The vacant man by the curb 1
The man surrounded by a thousand mirrors
All ask if it’s not too late
For dignity
The worried man facing the doctor
The man who shows all the lines of his hand
Each on asks where, when, how
For dignity?
I’ve seen these guys, I no longer know which channel
Dignity had long ago left the stage
He tried to laugh, but the laughs were false
Everyone applauded even so
He sold gold to condemned men
Castles to lost people
Overall, he had first sold
His dignity
These children pushed towards the flames
All these bruises on women’s faces
Half of the world is calling out for
More dignity
There’s no respite, there’s no rest
I’m on the river, in this bad boat
While everything shakes, I try to read your word
On dignity
Each one showed me an image and I thought
Dignity has never let itself be photographed
You can change the world
The shapes and the colours
Search to the end of the desert
There are so many roads and so many brambles
So many shadows where one can sink
Will I one day have the answer
On dignity?
1. or maybe ‘hungry’ or ‘empty’