To Christina whom I forgot to kiss *** Tomorrow Satan dies Before he skims through his paper on the beach – As he does every morning – And sips a cup of coffee But the world is bored without him For I have no reason to claim that I am kinder Than my evil friends But I shall whisper to my man: ‘Now you may lift your finger And touch the swelling hidden by my jaw Without fear Since it is dead! Our mothers Lied to us Saying it slept under our dirty nails ... The day before yesterday Christina died Without anybody noticing Without any woman at her funeral ... Before lighting the Christmas-tree, she died In front of the poem in an ebony frame The Alexandrian had written about her eyes Before fifty years. Yes, indeed! Women also die, Even if they were Cafavy’s friends, Without a din, Without sparrows striking window panes, Without women As they are known To look pretty in weeds. ... It suffices for us To sit silently in Café Elite (in Safiya Zaghlul Street) To calculate the body’s length and breadth For a coffin fitting the man. We are not like uncouth fishermen Who do not care about dead bodies And chuck fishes into baskets Without respect for the greatness of death. ... We have a decent funeral in mind Befitting an enduring friend of humankind, The master, Who prepared for us a place on earth. My father will attend, Whom the deceased had motivated To sit under my mother’s balcony for two years, And my mother, Who kissed the doctor’s hand To lay a word on Omar’s tongue, And Omar, Who built and sank Noah’s Ark, And Faust And el-Gabalawi And the cobbler, Who scattered nails in our street, Where Elderly Greek ladies live Near As-Sarayat Hospital ... But, I am the woman to receive condolences As I am His greatest sin. ___________ Constantine P. Cafavy (1863-1933), Greek poet, who spent most of his life in Alexandria. A café in Alexandria, where Cafavy used to sit and write. Cf.: Naguib Mahfous’ novel: The Children of Gebalawi, is an allegory of world history, in which al-Gabalawi is another name for God. ______________ Translated by Kees Nijland