Principles
You coached leaves of the olive tree to
shred sunlight and you begged
finches to whistle summer
but you left my lips unkissed
except while foreign lands rejoiced
in your principles, behind you
this yellow wall’s firm blocks
of the abandoned building
overgrown with brier where
cicadas compose adagios
gardenias sweating aromas
but you exiled my lips
while only seagulls kept you company
and my sobs hushed the night
Manolis Aligizakis 