THE GATE
(Excerpt 3)
We had forgotten about patience, we now needed a new one
multiplied
deeper than silence, deeper than the ancient organ that blows,
breathes air comes out of it but no sound, the fingers freeze,
the knees of the blind man and his ears too and his nose with
the ring made of nickel.
He was washing his hands in the sink as if after the killing;
the other said, we all die in the most inappropriate moment
and all the certificates, papers upon papers, coffins, horses,
coffee;
the dead have it better;
Yet, the third man said, until you die
you remain here and you observe your wholesome death
behind the curtain
on the lighted windowpanes; two shoeless girls water the
flowerbeds in the garden; the dog bites onto the grass, runs,
chases its tail, eyes the sun, the rubber hose, water drops fall
on the chest of the statue,
pass them, he said, through a thread and place them around
your neck;
far into the future you learn about the unachievable, you still
have time;
however, you have to die with that curtain so flooded by light,
with red, or light-blue birds and triangular, yellow daisies.
Manolis Aligizakis 