Long Listed for the 2023 Griffin Poetry Awards
DAYS OF ANGER ii
II
I asked the caretaker for the key; I pushed aside the open,
dripping umbrellas in the hallway and I unlocked; the letter
was still there on the night table, twenty years later, a
woman was lighting a candle “who are you?” I asked,
“you know me well” she said to me. I shivered. I saw
the executioner through the open window. He was often
dipping his hands in water “The asshole, he’s washing
his hands” I yelled “no, he doesn’t like seeing
his ugly fingers” they told me. An old woman was sitting
at the entrance unraveling a ball of wool; for which
dream or which return? The glow of the dawning day
flooded the poor people in the street with golden hues.
Manolis Aligizakis 