Poodie James

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excerpt

“I came here to say what I know about hobos.You have been
told that we mean no harm. I believe that we cause none.”
Engine Fred paused to look at Stout. “No more harm than most
people do, and less than some.” He turned toward Torgerson and
halted again.
The room was suspended in silence.
“But now, this hearing about hobos turns into an attack on the
best, the bravest man I have known. He came to help after the train
ran off the tracks near the hobo jungle. If he hadn’t, I could not
have got the engineer out of the cab. I probably would have been
blown up trying. Mr. Stout says that Poodie James is my accomplice.
He says that Mr. James and I caused the train wreck so that
we could make ourselves look good. That is offensive, Mr. Stout. It
is also slanderous.”
The fat on Stout’s face quivered as he ratcheted his head in
Torgerson’s directon and back to Engine Fred.
“’If,’ I said. That’s what I said, ‘If.’ I was only raising a possibility.”
Stout’s voice had lost some of its vigor.
Engine Fred took a step in Stout’s direction. “That is the
defense of a bully and a coward. You made an accusation, Mr.
Stout.” He looked at Torgerson. “It did not occur to you that the
hobo or his accomplice would defend against it.”
He’s even better than I remembered, Sam Winter thought.
“Mr. Clarkson,” Spear’s voice cut through the tension, “under
the hearing rules, you may make a statement and answer questions.
You may not engage in debate.”
“Mr. Spear,” Engine Fred said, with the trace of a smile, “you’re
trying to be fair, of course. I’ll observe the rule.” He stepped back to
the lectern.
“I told the council that Poodie James is the bravest man I have
known. That is so not because he risked his life to save someone. It is
so because under circumstances that would defeat most of us, he lives
his life with independence, dignity and joy. He does not accept charity
and he does not seek institutional help. He makes his own way, gathering
and selling discarded newspapers and bottles.

https://draft2digital.com/book/3562868

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08W7SHCMV

Redemption

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excerpt

…dedicated themselves to the benefit of the people’s lives. Ah, my poor
motherland…”
“Yes, I know. But we’d better go now.”
“Yes, let’s go. We might take the other road over the small
marsh, and hopefully we could come across some ducks, then we
could go by my father’s greenhouse and see what he has accomplished.
Sounds okay?”
“Yes, let’s get going then.”
They followed the road to the marsh. There were a few dark
clouds on the north horizon, clouds that lingered in the sky, indecisive
clouds, unsure of where they’d like to run; there was light wind
blowing from the north, and the weather could change very quickly.
A fierce storm could come from the north, which will drench everything
in a matter of minutes.
“We’d better be quick, Uncle. I don’t like the looks of those
clouds.”
“I don’t think this weather is going to change any time soon,
Son. Why are you so concerned?”
But his nephew repeated,
“We must be quick, my uncle. I don’t like these clouds.”
As they entered the olive grove, Hermes caught sight of a wild
dove at the top of a tree. He aimed and shot, quickly and with confidence:
he succeeded. He reloaded and ran to pick up the bird, which
was still fluttering its wings on the ground. The dog reached the bird
first. He approached the bird to pick it up with his mouth, but when
he came close to it, the bird fluttered and scared the dog away, barking
and wagging his tail.
Hermes bent down and reached for the fluttering bird; he could
see the huge pain in its eyes. Suddenly, the strange shudder overtook
his body again, like when he was aboard the ship. “What is it?” he
wondered, and suddenly, he didn’t feel like hunting anymore.
The wind started blowing stronger now, and Hermes convinced
Demetre that they should head to his father’s greenhouse.

https://draft2digital.com/book/4172538#print

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763858

Yannis Ritsos – Poems, Volume VI

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True
Would you like to say something? No. not about
the unachievable again. The silence is hollow.
It doesn’t support the table. The night is blind.
You can’t see it. They have put the whole
body of the deer in the big fridge; only one of
its antlers, severed at the bottom, is left
next to the big mirror, along with
a golden curly thread and a bell. During the night,
the old woman will come to ring the bell.
And perhaps it might wake up the newlyweds
in the adjacent room.

https://draft2digital.com/book/4278093#print

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

Übermensch

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Unattainable
Then, there, by chance I met the old man who decided
before his death to name himself God. He had always
been in love with the unattainable. He liked to sit on a wet
mattress and asked the passersby for a moment of silence
because he knew, he alone, could carry the most gold at
the final Day of Judgement, one completely certain event
and of course unwished to the busy men of this city and
for this, the jester didn’t ever pay attention to such details
while the old man leaned into the restaurant garbage bin
to get his evening meal.
I like those who seek knowledge and become the reason
for the coming of Übermensch. Thus they seek their death.

https://draft2digital.com/book/3746914#print

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BGFRGLVH

Kariotakis-Polydouri, The Tragic Love Story

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Lost
In the darkest night with
my hoping soul I long to see
the sun I saw for the first time
to just appear before me
now that the wailing
announce the new destruction
I long for the serene hour
and its evening greet
now that snow has spread
like a shroud over dryness
I long for the return
of the faraway swallow
I long for all the lost
and the witch old woman
tells me the shadows that
go away always return.

https://draft2digital.com/book/3562951

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763459

Titos Patrikios – Selected Poems

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Obstacles

As you get to know me I raise another wall.
It’s not that I don’t want you to find out who I am
it’s not that I want to drive you off.
We only have to understand clearly
how many obstacles we can go over
so that we’ll meet again.
We have to find out how far our endurance can last;
Then, don’t forget that perhaps I don’t
put up the obstacles in front of us, but they exist
on me and inside of me like black scars
that change my shape and my color:
the obstacle of myself against myself.

https://draft2digital.com/book/3562972

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

Katerina Anghelaki Rooke – Selected Poems

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stowaway in a Dream
I appeared there, I sprouted
though no one ever saw me
I felt impatient
though I had nothing
to long for.
Darkness had dried up
inside me
and I had nothing to use
to nurture my dream
that used darkness
to illuminate the light
of life.
only a neutral color
covered the stone of
my heart.
And behold, it came
aer so long
with no imaginary joys
or excessive sorrow
the dream came
and it held only one purse:
my purse.
I had forgotten of it
I had looked for it
but without the sovereign
master of my present,
my panic,
yet with the serenity of a fairy tale.
I hadn’t paid any ticket
but the dream
graced me quite graciously
with a short voyage
in a liberated country.
Liberated from the forceful
oversights of reality.

https://draft2digital.com/book/3562965

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763521

Orange

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After the War
The houses remained empty
windows firmly shut
always longing for a hand’s quiver
inside, a widow always lamented
her dead husband or
a mother for her son and
we made toys out of wire
left by the enemies
threads meant for ideal nooses
and we laughed
we always laughed like
the innocent evening breeze
that galloped over the shore
for our unknown future
lurking ahead that
with optimism we anticipated
a better world to mould
fear couldn’t enter our hearts
the fields remained not sown
the company that sold seed
underwrote the villagers’ lives
along with the quality of coffins

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

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

Antony Fostieris – Selected Poems

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Puzzle
Which luck and who’s the God
who tirelessly
during the nine months
in the uterus struggled
with such devotion
to complete the puzzle,
molecule by molecule,
of the three trillion
cells
when suddenly
you pop out
from the blood
crying
so, the void won’t
pull you back in.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763653

Tasos Livaditis – Selected Poems

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For Maria

…My beloved
I love you more than I can say in words
I could die with you if you could ever die
yet my beloved
I couldn’t have loved you
anymore than the way I have.
We used to close the door behind us and
we’re still cold; we used to shut the windows and
we’re colder than before
and as I turned to look into your eyes
I saw the eyes of the neighbour whose four sons
were killed
and as I stretched my arm to find your hand
it was as if I stole bread from the hands of the hungry.

https://draft2digital.com/book/3751267

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763831