Oh, my black mule you didn’t
get any of your father’s noble
fate with the dashing body
and from my mother, I didn’t
accept the scornful serenity,
you said to me, I’m not the slave
of a slave. I know it well, oh,
my black mule, you are you
you selected two of your
mother’s and your father’s fate
and you chose your destiny
and if you aren’t as graceful
as the waves nor the bravest
and if you aren’t a stooped slave
and a tired maid who awaits
and endures, beauty has turned
you into a thoughtful being and
if you never said no, you did
because of your stubbornness
not from a peaceful submission.
You’re always strong-willed
always first always the same
in rivers and thickets and
on the road and in the noisy
harbors as your steady step
deserves a light, graceful wing.
And if I urge you to descend into
the Tartarus of earth you’ll
always obey and I won’t even
feel the trembling of your legs.
And if I wake up longing for
a skyward voyage inside of me
I’ll ascend to the stars with you
while your steady steps will
guide me up to that height and
I’ll see you as the winged horse
of the magician or the leading
black guerrilla, unbending
barren and stubborn mule.
You and I, both of us, one Fate.
And if I stirred the leaders’
armoury with my hands and
I fluttered the soldier’s banner
and my uncontrolled hair
as if I was again commencing
a new battle, as if again
I was ready for long wars
and lance competitions
and wherever I passed along
domed forests of high-joined
chestnut trees and hugging
poplars I pushed my mule
gracefully riding on her back
I was the mule-rider who
touched the domed forests
raising my arms and then
going forward or coming back
I always carried leaves and
fresh branches in my hands
and wherever a river stopped
my steps, I disregarded its
powerful current, mule-rider
who I was, I started crossing
in a fastened path that lasted
only while I was passing; and I
was a river passer, a mule rider
an engraving on the rock
mule and man, the same flesh
different from the stone, which
assumed a soul and departed
if I was lost in the deep thought
of struggle, pain, and yearning
in my mind the one emperor
having a crown on his head
the crown of the universe.
https://www.lulu.com/account/projects/gjgv4ee https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D3LP7NW6
Manolis Aligizakis 