Magyd sleeps in the light
The light of the headlamps and the ring road
One cheek against the ground
One hand on his knife
A man sleeping on the tarmac
That doesn’t seem to trouble
The suited cardinals
Behind the tinted glass
And Sabrina who hides herself
And who hopes for her daughter, something other
Than this money that she snatches
From the hands that undress her
She turns up the volume
So as not to know who they are
Suited cardinals
And pompous know-it-alls
What a life! How sad!
What country is this
Not my one, no
It can’t be mine!
What a life, how sad ....!
And Mamadou who gets sent
To the back of the plane
And to a place of which
He knows nothing but the name
He’s light as a feather
Unhappy as a child
The suited cardinals
Sit in the seats at the front
N’Guyen the illegal immigrant
There’s no trace of her
She came to work on a sewing machine
Those girls who collapse are replaced
It’s for some steaming soup
It’s paid piecemeal
For the dresses and the suits
Of the impatient cardinals
What a life!
N’Guyen the illegal immigrant
And Mamadou who gets transferred
And Sabrina who works the street
and this Magyd who sleeps on the ground
When the lights go up
Everyone walk out silently
The suited cardinals
Weren’t at the showing
What a life! How sad!