XXI
We who started out on this pilgrimage
looked at the broken statues
we lost ourselves and said life is not so easily lost
that death has unfathomable ways
and his own special justice;
that when we died standing on our feet
like brothers inside the stone
united in toughness and weakness
the ancient dead have escaped the circle and have
been reborn
and smile in a peculiar silence.
Libeccio
The anemograph caught fire
confused wondering
which direction to adopt
Southeastern explosion or
southwestern heatwave
that gallops over the dunes of Africa
and steady charges
to come and engulf your body
to explain its mysticism
languorous upward pressure
promiscuous desire lingering
over the jasmine petals and
on your lascivious curves
while the midnight cock
knowing the magic of lust
under the moon’s direction
calls his first lover and
lost in the fire of your body,
you moan and beg the north wind
to come and rescue you
Manolis Aligizakis 