Much more than the ground beneath my feet Here I miss voices and the city And I miss you, because I haven't seen you Since I've been here We went up before the shift ended To the factory roof to see Whether from up there we could finally see The one who got us fired The first day he took off almost hurriedly With us above and the others arguing below But whose faces are those above the roof And what do they have to look at? Then the patrol car came tearing in And a little boy waved from a window Before night fell The television crew set up shop But no, I'm not coming down Not even the television Can make me come down No, I'm not coming down You go ahead And go on television Like passers-by during a sudden downpour Crammed into a doorway's only shelter The people downstairs crushed themselves Around the eye of the broadcast 'A relative of mine was up there on the roof.' 'outsourcing's to blame as far as I'm concerned' Everyone wanted the microphone To say something on television And while darkness sank into the streets And onto the gates and railings of Turin And the light had gone out on the balcony Where that little boy was I thought for an instant that I saw you Among the others showing solidarity down there But it wasn't you and I stayed up On the roof camping out Days and nights have gone by since that day And there's traffic in the streets again Only rarely is there someone who lifts their gaze And watches me watching My comrades have gone, too, and I understand them It isn't so easy to stay If there's someone waiting for you If you have someone you can tell things to And so, all alone now, I keep watch on my own And I no longer care about getting down or going back Or even about knowing Who got us fired Unchanging days go by and I don't count them Let them take away the breath of those who follow them closely I'll stay here and, for now, make do With a little boy's wave