Category: Uncategorized

Jazz with Ella

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excerpt

ROSTOV-NA-DONU, JULY 13, 1974
The Canadian student tour group were old hands at Soviet travel by the time their plane left Leningrad bound for Rostov-na-Donu in the Ukraine. The usual plump stewardesses, more relaxed on this domestic flight, handed out the usual sticky candy. The students played the now familiar game of who had the functioning seatbelts. David had no seatbelt, and he threatened to hang on to Paul’s leg for the duration of the flight should they meet turbulence.
Despite the gloom of parting from Volodya, Jennifer’s spirits lifted slightly. The plane was full of Ukrainians returning home—women in harem pants, swarthy men with metallic, toothy grins carrying bundles, carpets and, in one case, something alive in a cage that screeched at intervals. The passengers moved around the plane freely, paying no attention to the attendant yelling at them.
Jennifer wasn’t the only one who was mourning the loss of a friend in Leningrad. Ted had ended his stay there at a party with students from the institute. He had met them on the street, and over some powerful moonshine liquor they had discoursed heavily on the problems of the cold war and had resolved to bring peace to their various countries. Unfortunately, Ted couldn’t quite recall how they had proposed achieving this lofty aim. Lona had also found some friends in Moscow, it seemed, and was only now telling the group about them. Jennifer wondered if Lona would have admitted the liaison if she had not been spotted outside the hotel with a group of sharp and eager young men whom everyone suspected of being some kind of confidence tricksters. If anyone can take care of herself, it’s Lona, thought Jennifer, and she wondered if Lona’s swains had asked her to help them leave the country. Then, in an attempt to shake off…

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763246

Hours of the Stars

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Sail
Little cloud made of cotton
rowing
onto its tender oh
melted in the sky blue and
dripped into the edge of your eye

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763408

Orange

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Balance
The apple was red and luscious
virginal mouth not yet kissed
like the soft-white poem
whisper from my beloved’s lips
pen writing
the limpid, bluish song
thought of death dangles
equilibrium

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

George Seferis – Collected Poems

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IX
The harbour is old, I can not wait any longer
neither for the friend who left for the island with the pines
nor for the friend who left for the island with the plane trees
nor for the friend who left for the open sea.
I caress the rusted cannons, I caress the oars
that my body will be reborn and decide.
The sails only give off the smell
of the other storm’s salinity.
If I decided to remain alone, I seek
the solitude, not this kind of waiting
the shattering of my soul on the horizon
these lines, these colours, this silence.
Stars of the night return me to Odysseus and
his anticipation of the dead among the asphodels.
When we moored over here among the asphodels
we hoped to find
the glen that saw the wounded Adonis.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B096TTS37J

The Incidentals

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Discarded Items
Years and years he collected other
people’s discarded stuff, undoubtedly
useless to them although perhaps
useful to someone else, time and
again, he has pondered on this, Thomas,
the retired garbage collector, who
hasn’t heard any news from his son
for the last three years and he knows
one day he won’t be able to care
for himself anymore, when that day
arrives, as it always does, they will
discard him in the big bin along with
the garbage of the old folks’ home
which has been his home now, just
to be collected by the lonely and
the dedicated mega garbage collector
the Almighty Thanatos with his big sickle
the unerring cleaner of our fair earth
old Thomas too did as he was told, he too
followed the societal rules, he too
led the life of the donkey, with his
short rope tied to a stick in the ground
he too never found the strength to
stand up and throw a pebble
to dare disturb the calm lake waters.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763637

Twelve Narratives of the Gypsy

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GYPSY
Hellenes, chasers of Christians
polytheists, leftover relics
selected and accounted, you
followers of the Nazarene
populace guided by priests
shout, burn with light, curse
oh you, all idolaters.
None of you and none other
even the most wisest and
honorable will ever keep
the sunlight bestowed unto
you by its rays.
In the dark depths of the ocean
live some huge cetaceans
beyond the light of day, and
they see while the sun doesn’t
touch them, their bodies do
produce their own sun
phosphorescence is their foggy sun
that spreads a dreamy gleam
in the dark depths of the ocean
you too live like cetaceans.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D3LP7NW6

Kariotakis-Polydouri, The Tragic Love Story

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Modesty
I don’t want anyone to feel
the beauty I hide inside me
no one can come near it
without hurting it.
I have a bloomed lily inside me
without any shadow on its face
it has never longed for lust
nor ever anyone has kissed it.
I have inside me a rose that
balances on its own flame
and as a holocaust
it keeps silent and blesses.
I have inside me an ambivalent daisy
with its ever agreeing heart
that sways in its loneliness
and adorns its own beauty
and I have other symbols flowers
and others that intoxicate
yet the most delicate ones
bloom only in their imagination.
The beauty I hide inside me
no one ever will feel
if one hurts it a fool he’d be
and he won’t even regret it.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763459

He Rode Tall

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excerpt

Trying to remember everything that Tanya had taught him
about reining in the last two months, Joel quietly walked the big
buckskin into the arena and took his position just outside of the
end gate. After nodding to the judge, he began his run into the
show pen. He could not remember feeling so nervous, but he
knew that he couldn’t let that get in his way. He needed to focus
on everything that Tanya had taught him. Sure, he wasn’t on a
100,000-dollar horse and, sure, he wasn’t accompanied by his
own cheering section, but he had a good horse and had worked
hard to learn everything he could. He had put a lot of miles on the
buckskin, not only in the training arena, but also out in the
wide-open spaces, and if anyone was going to get a great performance
out of this horse, Joel knew that would be him. Besides, if
they were going to take full advantage of the quality breeding in
their horses, it would sure help to get a few nice wins on the
three-year-olds—the buckskin and the palomino had shown
them enough to earn the right to be there.
Leaving these thoughts behind, Joel ran the buckskin through
the gate and accelerated into the middle of the arena. With an
incredible blast of raw acceleration and a long run down, the
buckskin executed an awesome sliding stop that went on so far
that it looked like the horse was gliding on Teflon. Once the
buckskin came to a stop, Joel reined the horse to the left, ran him
back down the arena, and executed another excellent sliding
stop, which hurled dirt into the faces of the crowd standing at the
fence. Joel rolled the horse back to the right, quickly moving him
at a gallop past center, and then cued him to stop. This third sliding
stop was immediately followed by a quick reverse to center
with the horse backing effortlessly.
Joel and the buckskin had everyone’s attention—the buzz of
the crowd had quieted and all eyes focused on the horse and rider.
At the center of the arena, Joel waited for a few seconds to allow
the buckskin to rest and Joel to calm himself. Then, with a gentle
shift of the reins, Joel asked for the gelding to spin. With a burst of
energy, the buckskin executed four spins to the right

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0980897955

Swamped

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excerpt

He dialed Rebecca’s number first. Her pleasant voice delighted
him when she answered. It was a voice Eteo likened to a mixture of
honey and birdsong, both of which he loved.
“Would you be able to drop by for a few minutes, Eteo?” she
asked. “The annual report for Redama Resources is ready. Come and
have a look at it, and let’s make sure we haven’t forgotten anything.”
Rebecca always consulted him before she filed reports on
Redama with the regulators and other authorities. Eteo had brought
this file to her and she regarded him as the guiding force behind the
company, whose directors, two engineers with little financial background
between them, didn’t know much about these filings. Eteo
had seen many over the years and knew how to peruse them quickly.
“I could come anytime, Rebecca. How is your own schedule?”
“I’m free for the next hour. Could you come over now?”
As usual Eteo had hardly anything to do by this point in his day.
He would have left in half an hour anyway, so he confirmed that he
would walk over soon. It was only two blocks down to the 1177 West
Hastings tower and a quick elevator ride up to the 21st floor where
the Horton and Musgrave offices were located.
Ten minutes later, after telling Helena where he was going and
that he would not be back that day, he was sitting at Horton and Musgrave’s
reception. He only had to wait a minute before Rebecca appeared
and extended her hand, which Eteo squeezed warmly and
held perhaps a moment longer than would have been customary between
business colleagues. Rebecca told the receptionist to hold her
calls and took Eteo to her office. He sat down opposite her and she
handed over the file. It took Eteo only a couple of minutes to be satisfied
that everything that needed to be said was there. When he
handed the papers back he noticed that Rebecca’s hand felt hot and
sweaty, and when he got up to leave, she gave him her hand again.
He pulled her closer and found no resistance at all. Instead Rebecca
almost fell into his arms and returned his deep kiss with equal passion.
Her breathing became fast and excited and Eteo felt his groin’s
hot desire for the body of this attractive young lawyer, who was exploring
his mouth with her tongue and obviously eager for more and
more of him. His hands ran down her delicate body to her buttocks,

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08WP3LMPX

Wheat Ears

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Image
Like an ancient
repeatedly hymned sin
your body that I crave
to re-explore
gleams in my mind
like that first time
under the shade of the olive tree
jealous, sophisticated,
eternal wisdom staring
and softly whispering
yes, yes

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BKHW4B4S