Burden
He put his bag on the floor
he lay next to me, raised one leg
and leaned it against the wall
as if to leave
a fleshy mark on it,
a faint human trace
the other leg was resting
on the cool cement
suddenly as if he remembered
something very important,
he got up
walked to the table
leaned down and smelt
the last bloomed rose, then
he let a sigh float
in the darkened room
as if to release
the burden of his last breath,
silence truthfully adhering
to heartbeats slow, fading,
and without a word
he collapsed on the cool cement
Manolis Aligizakis 