Archive for 13/01/2026
Alone in Athens
Sunbursts of the stars that once shone here
now slip
onto the crucible of cypresses
celery and oleanders black and deciduous
lament
for the celebration that ended
in the rocky islands.
On the laid bare hills and quarries
the winds and
the toads of the ancient victory stagnate
and if there is still honour and decorum
they celebrate
Nero who arrives an Olympiad medalist.
That thoughtful statue near
the spring
borrowed its glance from the future
the departing memory of the poet, idols and
golden statues,
wanders in the thicket of the cloudless terrain.
Now the human ruins that gleam like
blades and
bloody pugnales pierce you.
How hope for a new life can steady you
in the future country
that will be born in time?
AT FIRST glance of course everything seem to be unexpected
while what we feared had already taken place inside us, and
we carried it during the dangerous hour and often you stopped
in the middle of the stairs since who knows where was the next
step; especially in the night as you walked through the empty
rooms something always fell off your hands as if wanting
to return and then as you kneel to find it you met the other man,
since every gesture gives us up and you carry a different
glass from the one you wanted; I therefore chose to be silent;
but when in darkness midnight struck suddenly the whole
house shook and then at the end of the hallway we saw him
as he quite clearly walked by us.
And the prophet heard the tidings
about the coming war and
cried: Lord, my King, all
the messaging fires were lighted
from the peaks of the Olympus
up to here at the Golden Polis
at the hilltop of St. Axentios
to the phosphorescent tower
of the Great Palace! The enemy
is here trampling the lands. We
wait for your command. Stop
the festival, close the circus
place the arms on the royal
Gate of Chalke: sword, shield,
straps, Lord give your order:
to war, my Lord, to war!
To the Arms, to the Arms!
The Turk.
And suddenly the royal king
answered: law giver stop.
Questions
The beggar always stood
at the corner as if to
oversee two streets
double pain single delusion
the woman was already undressed
as she waited for her first john
though the traffic was an issue
that night and God, the Overseer,
down in the wine cellar,
lost among the barrels,
had forgotten her. Autumn
leaves blown over fences
and I waited for the server to
produce the bill for our dinner.
Where is an exit from this travesty
where is the elusive answer?
Mayanaam
vequinox
Manolis 