Long Listed for the 2023 Griffin Poetry Awards
Inglorious End
I had to reach that point fast; my fate was at risk,
the slightest delay would perhaps cost me my life or
even something more serious. However, I couldn’t
find my path, I was lost in the labyrinth of wet,
mouldy backyards. “My God, I have to get out”,
I said, and I saw the woman. Her face had a green
reflection, as if it had grown moss; she stood motionless
before the mirror, fixing her hair. “Please tell me how
I get out of here”, but she didn’t answer and then
I noticed she was a statue; the real woman sat further up
on a rocking chair. “How could I get out of here?” I asked
again. She smiled with spite. “I too, wished that some
years ago,” she said. Then my face reappeared next
to the statue of the woman; my face started to grow
moss as time went by, while I, sitting on a chair,
also smiled spitefully at the one who came to ask
about his path.
Manolis Aligizakis 