Comrade
He had an exquisite aura
that only a few of the ones
who met him could recognize
we’re walking side by side
in the busy path of the park
a new mother was pushing tenderly
the stroller with her baby
who was crying as if singing
a future tune, the sun was
warming the dress of the mother
loose and freely falling over her
as if to cover her baby bump
a couple of months after childbirth
the breeze blew as softly
on her face and the curtain of the stroller
as my buddy and I walked side by side
on our regular afternoon stroll
when suddenly a four year old boy
stopped his bicycle in front of us
as if he wanted to say something
and my comrade, a fate’s wish
you could say, let his glance dive
deep in the eyes of the boy
no word was uttered
neither from my buddy
nor from the four year old boy
who only stared at my friend
as if magnetized by his eyes
from which tears stared flowing
and I, upon seeing his tears, wondered
what could had happened when my friend
guessing my wonder, stopped
he took my hand and said
one day even this innocence
will be defiled by the system
Manolis Aligizakis 