EROS PALIMPSEST
Be
mellow like clouds
Be
mellow like tempestuous sea
with tranquil depth
Be
mellow like cypress trees
inflamed by thunder
Be
mellow with the sword
in the holy war your
psiche
summons you to
Be
mellow like the thorn
piercing the breast
of a nighingale
compelling it to sing
Be
mellow like the dagger
plunged into your
flesh
to whiten
the lungs in light
Be
mellow amongst ogresses
dwelling in your
chamber
be gallant
gaze at them if you may
for above water
Medusa
becomes a lump of clay
Be
mellow hearken to the song of the
sirens
fasten on the one spar
with Ulysses
But alas
if at the moment
of the
most exquisite happiness
you plug
your ears
your sanity shall
be lost
Be
mellow even encountering your demon
ejecting swords
sow them in your chest
like a helmet
Be
mellow
and let
the indian utter
that
once you find your other self
you shall perish
swing along with it
in the water of
the one cave
bite its tongue
pierce its frame
through daily
for if
you feel remorse
you shall be lost.
Be
mellow
sleepless
for eternity
if you
must
sowing
flowers in the desert
to be
uprooted by shimoon
Be
mellow
like the
sword
without
a sheath.
ELENI
PLAYS BACKGAMMON AT ARGOS
The
breeze in the interim of our reasoning
towering
cicadas' songs
to
depilate
the
weariness of desires unfulfilled
and you
a celestial fire
from the
union
of Aris
and Aphrodite
with
weeping
and
inconsistent movements of a child
are
pleading
for the
rest of the story.
It's
time for us to purify the silence
possessed
by the inexpressible
like the
empty cafés
inhabited
in the nights
by the
deceased playing backgammon
in the
mirrors
for even
Pure Logic
through
which it is reflected
abides
in Chance and Need.
Now and
then around the tables
glides
Eleni of Sparti
gently
touching the collars of the jackets
entrapping
with her golden name
the dice
in the air
and the
men are crying out
like
rowers enfeebled by the tempest
and
Ponos cries
wounded
by the
presence of divine beauty.
It's
time for us to purify the silence
possessed
by the inexpressible
like us
the lepers of the mercy
born
alone
in
voluptuous moments
playing
backgammon with the deceased
in the
sanctuary
of
underwater caves
to
abstain the battle cries
of a war
that has ended
and of a
new one that shall begin
and
Eleni
- ah! - Eleni
of Sparti
gently
touching the collars of the jackets
juggling
with the golden name
the dice
in the air
- double six!
-
and the
men crying out
like the
rowers reposed
by the
tempest
and
Ponos cries
wounded
by the
presence of divine beauty.
PEACE
Our soul
towards caress inclines
As
thirsty lips towards a brawling spring
Heliotropes
tilt to face the wheel of Sun
And the
condemned head
the headman's blade
averts
Craving
for the leniency of the Judge
Our body
tends towards calm
As tired
hands towards the sky of blue
Loins
lean towards the stalk of Spring
and desire's crest
detests the hammer o Time
longing for the readiness of the Lover.
Our soul
towards Peace inclines
As eels
towards fresh water.
TIME
IMPRISONED
Trust
the Emptiness
That Beauty that you thought was lost
shall
suddenly appear to yoiu
and Time, an alchemy
destined to babies
deviates,
when by some longing's magnet
is
mislead
Silence-proof
Resists
the obvious violation
of the
accepted way to measure
those
kisses you've been hiding
inside your sight's
open
prison
The hand
over-adroitly approaches
caresses that no one
has had
the chance
to grab.
MARTYR
Crouched
with snakes
and catamounts
we stir
our heads
each time one sighs
and up
the sky ascends
the cry.
We sing
- what else
to do? -
and by
the by the sward
grows longer
and by
the by the rope
grows
tighter roung the throat.
And the
martyr keeps crying
along
and his cry is like
tearing
the sky apart.
THE
FLIGHT
Stars
prick your naked
heels
with
suction's speed
at the
other side of yond
and you
fear nothing
for
there
no
sadness exists
no sigh
exists
or the
demand of looks
waiting
for sacrifice
Not even
the need for a message
exists,
for there
is
everything
the
voice of those who left
who are
and who
shall come
that
silence is full of clang
that never is filled up.
(Translation
by Youyouka Triantafyllidi)