THE FIRST STEP
One day the young poet Evmenis
complained to Theokritos;
“I have been writing for two years
and I have only composed one idyll.
It is my only completed work.
Alas, I see that the ladder of Poetry
is high, very high; unfortunately
I will never be able to rise
from where I stand at the bottom rung.”
Theokritos said, “These words
are inappropriate and blasphemous.
And even though you are on the first step
you must be proud and happy.
That you have reached this far is not little;
what you have accomplished, is a great glory.
For even this first step
is a step beyond the ordinary.
To have arrived where you stand now
you must be in your own right
a citizen of the city of ideas.
And it is hard and rare
to be naturalized in that city.
In her agora you find Lawmakers
that no arriviste can dupe.
That you have reached this place is not small thing.
You have accomplished a glory.”
Manolis Aligizakis 