Illumination
In the darkness of your day
the smile of a female youth I discovered
and suddenly the spring appeared
among the curled pine needles
the sparrow’s chirp calling its mate
that firstly I heard amid
the thin foliage of the shrubs,
echo of soothing raindrops, reminded me
the meditative whisper I felt
in the Blind Boy and The Kiss
by Brancusi which I encountered
in your Museum’s prudent display
Craiova, city of the ascetic
and pulsing vein of the anchorite
you’ve functioned in the boy’s sweet cry
and in the cradle of civilization
proud female smiling youth
with optimism the future you invite
Craiova, artistic city of Romania
my path to illumination you’ve underscored
Manolis Aligizakis 