Leaves
Green leaves of courage
brown leaves of frustration
their endless endurance
against decay
that settles each autumn
as we stand by the tree roots
listening to secrets
told in sunbeams
or moonless nights
and silence still controls
forgotten thoughts
begotten aspirations
while leaves don’t bother
with systemic schemes
rules of engagement
and thoughts residing
in analyzing minds

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1771715987

BOLIVAR

and nations and borders and other similar things that
don’t inspire
but because they both always stood alone, free, great,
brave and strong throughout the eons.
And now, I despair that even today no one ever
understood me, but what am I saying, nobody wished
to understand me.
Certainly, the same luck might be applied to the words
about Bolivar which I’ll repeat tomorrow about
Androutsos?
Besides, it isn’t easy, to sense the importance of faces
such as Androutsos and Bolivar
Similar symbols.
But let us pass quickly: no, in the name of God, not
any emotions, exaggerations and despairs.
Indifferent, my voice was meant for the eons.
(In the near or distant future, in a few or many years,
perhaps the day after tomorrow or the day after that,
until the hour when the Earth will start flowing empty,
useless and dead in space, new people will wake up,
with mathematical accuracy, during the wild nights,
on their beds, they might shed tears on their pillows
and wondered who I was, thinking that I existed once,
what words I said, and hymns I sang.
And the huge waves that each evening splash onto
the seven shores of Hydra
and the wild rocks and the high mountain from which
the storm charges down
endlessly, tirelessly, they shall call my name).

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763734

Parasites
The big rivers of the world
swallow the little ones
my mind travels
to the bloodied dreams of creeks
to bloomed shadows
unexpressed souls
poems that weren’t finished
here where everything changes
the immutable parasites lurk
they erotically wrap themselves
around innocence
declaring the coming of loneliness

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DPCRLJC6

Abal*
Her teary eyes peruse her doll
With one of its arms severed
Abal still plays with her beloved doll
as if nothing had happened
The doll still has one arm
from which she grabs it
fate in the form of the bomb
that fell the night of last fall
didn’t select between the two girls
One arm missing from Abal
One arm is missing from her doll
Two arms of two dolls
missing in action

• A girl’s name which means wild rose in Syrian language.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763769

And when we wanted to talk we suddenly went silent.
Through the open window we listened to the footsteps
of the moribund coming from afar.
How could our talk warm up such frost;
how could our door protect us from all this night
as two people threw their great shadow between us.
What will it become of us, my beloved?
My beloved, are you listening to me?
No, it’s not the wind that reaches from afar.
You’d say thousands of footsteps descended to the roads;
thousands of boots pound their nails on the
asphalt.
Where do they go? How can they go away?
How could I’ve lived away from you, my beloved?
How would I’ve lighted a lamp if it wasn’t to see you?
How would I’ve looked at the wall without your shadow
spread on it?
How would I’ve leaned on a table where you hadn’t rested
your hands?
How could I’ve touched a slice of bread if we didn’t
share it?
This noise becomes stronger in time;
there’s no place to sleep. There’s no corner where
you can sit.
No, it isn’t the wind that comes from far away.
Come, rip our bed-sheet, my beloved, rip
your dress and fill the cracks.
People put all their belongings in a sack
because all their household

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087367R7C

THE LAST DAY
The words have left me,
Lord, what a confusion
in my whole being,
what a desolation…
Another dead-beat comes
and it occupies me.
The angel is leaving
because of my carelessness
as I ignored him.
I’m running for the sake of running
making no progress.
Even today,
I’ve ruined time
for it to have fun!
Then a walk in tango steps.
Only the battle noise is heard.
And I’m
waiting for Godot.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C7KT7ZFV

Newspaper
He opened the newspaper
under the light of the kitchen
seeking to brighten the news
of last night’s muggings,
break-ins, and murders.
After he took a deep breath
knowing he contributed
in beautifying the world
of this ugly modern city
he put the coffee pot on
as if he had to go to war again
and needed his morning fix

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763750