The Unquiet Land

excerpt

Respectfully, of course. I think we can call on the infinite power and all-knowingness of God. And God is good, Caitlin. He knows what is best for each and every one of us. Yes, if you ask my honest opinion, the Carney boy was beyond saving by medical means. I believe, and believe fervently, that God intervened to spare his life.”
Those words had had more of an impact on Caitlin and on her future than Dr Starkey could have realised. He had looked at Caitlin with his wise, compassionate eyes and knew what was going on in her head. But he could hardly have guessed the full consequence of his words. Like the stone-man’s wedges they opened a crack in the monolithic relationship between Caitlin and her father.
“Why don’t you talk to Father Padraig?” Dr Starkey had suggested. “He is better versed in these matters than I am.”
Caitlin had deferred talking to Padraig. Looking ahead like a traveller on a long road, she could see the priest at a parting of the ways, waiting for her, watching her approach. The sun was low behind him, and his thin body cast a monstrous shadow across her path. She could not see what lay along either of the roads at whose branching the priest stood, but she knew she would have to choose the one or the other.
҂
A month after Joe-Joe Carney’s miraculous recovery Caitlin met Padraig in the village. She had not seen him for several days, not since he had come to the house for a meal. He had had his hair cut short and he looked different. He seemed taller, and his thin face even more emaciated. In his black priestly garb he appeared even paler than usual.
“Hello, Caitlin,” he said. “How are you?”
“I’m fine, Padraig.”
“No,” Padraig said right away. “Something is troubling you. What is it?”
“What makes you think that something is troubling me?”
“I can see it in your eyes. They look disturbed. And I think you have been avoiding me of late.”
“Padraig, that’s not true. You had dinner at our house not so long ago.”
“Yes, but I invited myself, Caitlin.” Padraig looked into her eyes for a moment; they were more disturbed now. “I feel like a stranger in Finn MacLir’s house. Even an unwelcome stranger.”
“No, Padraig. Never unwelcome. And never a stranger.”
“Are you talking for yourself, Caitlin, or for both of you?”

https://draft2digital.com/book/3562888

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763203

The Circle

excerpt

Look after him as you would a younger brother; keep him out of this affair with
Bevan. I don’t want any implications for him, or you, or any of my boys,” Ibrahim
stresses once more.
“I know, my uncle; he has been always looked after, since day one. Haven’t I
done well in that respect, so far?”
“Yes, you have, Talal. I appreciate that very much. That boy is my dearest
son; if anything happened to him it would be devastating for Mara and me,”
Ibrahim’s eyes get teary.
Talal notices this and tries to assure him that nothing will ever happen to
Hakim as long as he’s around. After all, he thinks of him as his younger brother
in the same way that he thinks of his little brother in Falluza. Talal promises
nothing will ever happen to Hakim. Then his mind turns to Falluza and he asks if
there’s any news from his sister and brother. He asks Ibrahim what has happened
with his old house.
“As far as I know, nothing has been done with the house, but your brother
and sister are well and they live with your grandfather. Life there is slowly getting
back to normal; don’t forget Falluza is the place where the most serious
resistance to the Americans started and that’s why it’s the last place to be rebuilt.
That is how things work here; nobody cares to start rebuilding Falluza when
there’re so many other places that have priority. In any case, things are slowly
getting back to normal, even in Falluza.”
“I would like to go visit my siblings, tomorrow, or the next day perhaps.”
“Don’t forget, you don’t go anywhere without Rassan or Abdul or both of them.
Security is still a problem here. When you are in the market-place please advise Emily
to wear a headscarf and be presentable to our customs.” Ibrahim cautions him.
“I know, my uncle, thank you for your concern. Is security a big problem
still? After all these years, is there still a lot of infighting and disagreement?”
“Yes, so many years have gone by since the war ended, yet we still have
problems with security; on the other hand, don’t forget we have always had
problems and sectarianism in this country. Saddam with his iron fist controlled
the people for years, but he used fear. This is the price of democracy, my dear
boy. When you let people be free, it means you allow them to tell you how they
feel; they’re allowed to do as they like within the boundaries of the law, of course.
Yet, that is freedom, and it is as hard to deal with as it was to deal with the whims
and tyranny of Saddam Hussein.”
At about 11 Emily and Talal go upstairs to sleep for the night.

https://draft2digital.com/book/3562817

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0978186524

Ιστορία του Ρεμπέτικου Τραγουδιού

Η ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ ΤΟΥ ΡΕΜΠΕΤΙΚΟΥ ΤΡΑΓΟΥΔΙΟΥ : Ρεμπέτικο τραγούδι ονομάζεται το Ελληνικό αστικό λαϊκό τραγούδι που εμφανίστηκε στα τέλη του 19ου αιώνα και απέκτησε τη γνώριμη μορφή του, περίπου μέχρι την τρίτη δεκαετία του 20ού αιώνα

Yannis Ritsos – Poems, Volume VI

THE LIFT OPERATOR

Then the blankets and bed sheets familiarize themselves
with the sun and air.
They don’t want to return inside the house,
the same house with the old mattresses, onto which they
dealt with the sicknesses of old men and children, and
they carried on their backs couples in love and paralyzed
people, and dead, heavy loads of choked screams and
piercing silences, they just don’t want to enter the house
anymore. The mattresses made of cotton become lumpy
like fresh cotton plants in a big field,
the ones made of wool bleat like the flock of young sheep
on the hillside, the ones made of hay creak and
bunches of wheat ears poke out from the holes
of the cover.
Thus, the bed sheets, blankets and mattresses are separate
from the life of the house, and the beds remain empty,
all alone, undone, with their rusted springs uncovered
like the entwined veins of ancient mines, which they
exposed and separated from their earthly body and
they don’t know what to do anymore since they
don’t have the workers who would go to lay down
and rest.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763785

Titos Patrikios – Selected Poems

II
Oh, sky, you think is enough that we stare at you?
It seems you don’t know us.
Although you repeat to show us your best images
although you insert the muddy bellies of the clouds
although sometimes you look like flour
undressed of its last future
we still need to find you, authentic, amid
your deserted countenances,
we can still find you and teach you what you are
which you don’t know
or have forgotten.
Don’t clench your jaws, oh sky,
don’t get angry, don’t be afraid of us
we won’t harm you more than what you need.
We can even save you.
Stars that stepped over so many strong bodies
and so many corpses
are all welcomed in our hearts.
Their rays, which saw the crust of earth,
are also welcomed.
They had to know this.
We proceed; we shake off all the corners
of the sun that obstruct our path
we step on the neck of each constellation
that tries to stop us;
and these rotten stars
with their empty and frozen shells of bodies
there masks that simulate the light
need a thorough clean up.

https://draft2digital.com/book/3562972

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08L1TJNNF