Archive for 08/12/2025

Yannis Ritsos – Poems, Volume V

Posted: 08/12/2025 by vequinox in Literature

Regular Battles
They went out at dawn, almost drunk. They sat on a line
and relieved themselves on the dry grass. They weren’t
looking at each other; they were looking at the faraway
horizon, they talked dirty words, they cursed, a relative
perhaps they wished to take revenge or death. You didn’t
know whether they were peeing or masturbating. They
delayed. Opposite them, the horizon was getting rosy. When
they stood up they looked tired, in a hurry. Their belts,
made of black leather and metal rings, were hung over
their necks ringing like rams.

https://draft2digital.com/book/3562980

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763726

Orange

Posted: 08/12/2025 by vequinox in Literature

Lily
Today you need to order
flowers for his funeral
and certain uneasiness
overtakes you what to choose
what to leave at the discretion
of the funeral home personnel
two dozen carnations
his beloved flowers
and two orchids in memory
of all his erotic perversions
and of course, a big white
lily for that first time
you opened to him
with the youth’s wonder
of how to enjoy him

https://draft2digital.com/book/3746001#print

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763750

Constantine Cavafy – Poems

Posted: 08/12/2025 by vequinox in Literature

Very Seldom
He is an old man. Worn out and hunched,
maimed by the years, and his own excesses,
walking slowly he crosses the narrow street.
And yet as he enters his house and hides
his old age and his terrible condition, he contemplates
the share he still has of youth.
Ephebes recite his verses now.
His visions flash through their lively eyes.
Their healthy, lustful minds,
their firm, well-shaped bodies,
are stirred by the way he expressed beauty.

https://draft2digital.com/book/3562856

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1723961833