Roses
In company with the aphid and the caterpillar
I have planted roses in the garden this year
instead of writing poems
the centifolia from the house in mourning at Ayios Thomas
the sixty-petaled rose Midas brought from Phrygia
the Banksian that came from China
cuttings from the last mouchette that survived
in the old town,
but especially Rosa Gallica, brought by the Crusaders
(otherwise known as damascene)
with its exquisite perfume.
In company with the aphid and the caterpillar
but also the spider mite, the tiger moth, the leaf miner,
the rose chafer and the hover-fly,
the praying mantis that devours them all,
we shall be sharing leaves, petals, sky,
in this incredible garden,
both they and I transitory.
Jerusalem
In the underground waters of the great mosque
some hear the waves of paradise
and others hear the wailing
Just like Father Theodoritos
speaking of the fish
and the golden ring
Symeon found in its belly
while Abu Farouk
sweeps the yard
and children play war
among the ruins.
Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace
and let this City have its rest
this deadly City, this stone-throwing City
with the machine-guns set
around the Wailing Wall,
let its people walk in peace
around the city wall at dusk
that they may say the Dominus Ivimus
Lord We Are Coming
with a blue boat
graffiti on the white marble
Poems above translated by Stephanos Stephanides
Electricity In Fyti
Mr Nicos told me
that when fifty years or so ago
electricity came to his village
the animals cried all night
and the birds flew anxiously about
not knowing what was happening.
Albania
Vassos, a tavern owner in Kassiope
said that his neighbour with the souvenir shop
the Albanian
swam from Agioi Saranta
one night when it was snowing and the waves were so high
that the patrol boats could not come out with their
searchlights
and harpoon with their tridents
those who tried to
swim away.
On the Spilt Blood
Sergei was a store-keeper
At warehouse 7 or as he said repeatedly
lest he forgot
at the Church of Our Saviour
on the Spilt Blood.
His grandfather recounted how the murder took place.
From time to time he cleaned the wall with a cloth
at a secret spot that was not visible
and then the agate, the jasper,
the porphyry and the rhodonite would shine through.
And he took care not to scratch the marble
when he carried the wood to the warehouse
with the forklift until
times had turned.
Poems above translated by Xenia Andreou
The Church of Our Saviour in St Petersburg was built on the spot where Tsar Alexander was assassinated. After the revolution the church became a place for storing building materials.
