The Lady of the South Wind
-Tassos Leivaditis
My Nymphs, who pass and go southward,
did you, perhaps, see her playing with seagulls on her rock?
At a loom of swallow - fish,
sea - maidens weave for us our white sails
and a young sailor walking on the waves
awakes the sea with salvos and apples!
Pursued by the west wind she ran on the sand
gathering the waves on her white apron;
sun, bring her back, north wind, bring her back to us,
as she wanders on the backs of dolphins in sea - weed gardens,
with a thousand seagulls behind her holding her skirt,
with a thousand breams around her, in her azure smiles!
Lady of our white sails, my Mermaid Holy Virgin,
awake, Lady of Kalymnos, awake with three bitter - lemons,
and give us your braids to weave our sails,
and send us a kiss that we may sail with a fair wind!
but don' t you hear the waves, slender and tall Lady of the sea?
Don' t you see that the winds fight for your sake
and from their masts, far away, with their white caps,
the young sailors of the east wind greet you from the skies?
Songs of the sea are crammed in sea - shells;
in an urchin the world' s secrets are revealed,
and the wind that suddenly undid the peach tree' s bust
as she started running upon the rocks;
children chase her with two sea - shells of love,
and with cannonades of plums the sailors break her door!
Skopelos and Virgin
-by Skorda
when first you see it
across the water,
rising round and new above the mountain.
Open your mouth and swallow
while youth holds its roundness near,
and you are running fearless in the dark.
Hold it inside, it is still warm
and you will need its light,
there, inside you.
Down the road of time, somewhere
after you’ve aged, traveled,
Explored, discovered.
And the dust around your doorway
has been pounded hard and smooth under your feet.
When you find yourself growing weary and bored,
when your eyes see only ruins,
and your heart is empty.
You may believe, in your exhaustion,
that this is truth, at last.
That the mystery has unraveled,
leaving no wilderness to explore or tame.
All secrets have been shared,
the frontier has dissolved.
Know then, with these thoughts,
you have been swallowed.
The warm belly of the beast
comforts with confining darkness
and lulls with rhythmic sounds
Murmuring to you,
Curl up and sleep,
just go to sleep.
Shake your head,
stretch your legs,
do not sleep now.
Remember what you know.
You swallowed the moon,
you hold it inside you.
Not as a magpie hoarding shiny things,
or wearing the moon for beauty
or bartering the moon for wealth.
You swallowed the moon for this moment.
When you will walk to the water’s edge,
open your mouth, release the moon
and let its light build you a pathway
across the wine dark sea.
©Skorda 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
of the south wind
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
ERASE FETISH
No comments:
Post a Comment