Zeitgeistlyrik: A Waltz With You (Satis Shroff)
A WALTZ WITH YOU (Satis Shroff)
Ah, the
sound of Vienna begins.
I execute a
perfect circular waltz,
With you in
a gown
And I in
tails,
After the
pre-ball sekt.
It’s
amazing how even teenagers
Go
voluntarily to learn
How to
waltz,
And how to
kiss a lady’s hands,
Impeccably.
I learned
it at socials
Organised
by the nuns of St. Helen’s
And the
Christian Brothers of Ireland.
When the
‘ladies choice’ was announced
By the
Master of Ceremonies,
You could
feel the adrelanin
Surging in
your young blood.
It helps to
develop your self-confidence,
In a
society where balls are a way of life.
But a waltz
in Vienna,
Is a legacy
of Habsburg Emperor Franz Joseph.
Strauss and
Mozart rule the dancing floors.
In palaces,
concert halls, posh hotels,
The 19th
century Sofiensaal.
You dance in your polished best,
For the
Viennese or your society.
The art of
formal greeting,
Bowing,
hand-kissing,
How to ask
for a dance,
And how to
introduce people.
Correct
Viennese etiquette is well-seen:
Küss die Hand gnädige Frau,
You look so
lovely tonight.
The
ambient, the rustling silk clothes,
The moving
violins, the pricking sekt,
And the
swirls whirl you
To another
baroque world.
VIENNA’S BIG HEART
(Satis Shroff)
At the Musikverein’s Golden Hall,
In Vienna with you,
Listening to the renowned singers and solists,
All wearing costumes and white wigs, from the
baroque era,
With operatic overtures
From Mozart’s times.
To enjoy melodies from the baroque era,
With operatic overtures, arias and amorous
duets.
A promenade with you,
In the summer residence of the Habsburgs,
To admire and inhale the aroma
Of the roses in the palace gardens
Of Schönbrunn.
Sauntering along Prince Eugen von Savoyen’s
Belvedere,
The exquisite baroque architecture,
Or admiring the works of Schiele,
Kokoschka, Renoir, Monet, Van Gogh.
The fragrant smell of Edelweiss,
Gentians and Alpine roses,
From the Alpine Gardens.
Albetina in the heart of Vienna,
With its imperial pomp and paintings,
From Monet, Manet to Picasso.
Watching the morning exercise
Of the white Lipizzaner horses,
In the Spanish Riding School.
Yes, the very ones King Birendra also wanted to
possess,
Before he was killed by his own son.
The imperial palaces,
Art rooms, ballrooms and flourishing gardens
Evoke a touch of decadence,
Preserved by the bourgeois society.
In the streets during the day,
There are beggars from the former East Bloc,
But also Austrians among them,
Who have fallen through the social net,
Sleeping in public parks.
Demonstrations of the Kurds,
Against the bombardments of the PKK,
And Erdogan’s Turkish power politics.
Austrians taking shots at asylum seekers,
Who have reached 80,000.
A dangerous angst against asylum seekers
spreads,
The fear of loss of Austrian identity.
Austria took 90,000 war refugees from the
Balkankrieg,
Another 90,000 in the Hungarian revolt.
Vienna has indeed a big heart.
Kommentare
Kommentar veröffentlichen