Songs at the Aegean Sea

18

Clasping it in my arms, I embrace the wave,
—My secret love from times past—
This gentle lover
With its slippery body;
I drink its green tears and once again,
His bitter, salty kiss
Inebriates me.

I embrace the wave,
And the wave hugs me back,
Pressing me to its silky, liquid breast.
Small fish surround me
Through the crystal water,
They think I am an ancient sunken amphora,
With their sharp, small teeth and in a great up swell
They bit my tights, and then quickly recoil;
Rusty droplets glimmer in the clear tide,
I say to myself it’s nothing, just a kiss,
Like the wind that whispers through my hair,
Like the blue stars twinkling in the sky.

Oh, if I could only change the meaning of a sigh!
Oh, if I could,
I’d become one with infinity!
With my flowery hands I would wall in Fate,
Build golden temples in the name of love,
And laughing, bring offerings
To All Divinity!

Santa Fe Blues

Dream

I dreamt about these breasts,
Hanging and blue.
I dreamt about these eyes,
Dropping slowly over eyelids.

Our plans, little love,
Remain only this, a sweet chimera.
I am busy, readying myself,
Ever so slowly, ever so stealthily,
To walk other roads, unknown to us,
Full of terrors and silence.

Those roads
Carved in time and in rocks,
Are forbidden to you,
Dear one,
Just yet.


Eventually

I’ll be forgetting you,
Eventually—
When the thin thread of grass
Snaps in two.

I’ll be forgiving you
Eventually—
When time, like a sponge,
Erases your image
From my heart’s wall.

The golden-feathered bird
Was never ours to have.

On a deep and bleeding wound
We scattered bitter words,
A salty, burning load.

The moon hides; the night darkens,
Heavy mists whirl far into an abyss;
Moist, the earth smells
Of mint leaves.
Under heavy rain drops
Frail lily-white flowers genuflect,
Their faces in the dust.

Life carries us forward,
Eventually—


Argentine Summer

Sunset Reflections

Sifted through fiery sieves,
The sun spreads into the lagoon.
It’s late in the evening, but darkness
Lingers still somewhere
In the distance.

An old artisan shapes shiny knifes
With handles carved from mighty antlers,
Prehistoric scales and large birds’ claws.

Anything goes for a dollar.

Tangled algae huddle into muddy islands,
Old women with filmy eyes
Allow us ripe figs over the fence,
Weary fishermen return home,
Little by little, the sky changes colors,
The moon appears,
A translucent globe.

In a deserted tavern,
Reflected in raven-black table cloths,
The empire of death spills, sighing,
Onto plates.


Rhodes, The Sun’s Bride

Little One’s Eyes

On a ridge adorned with giant aloes,
The unclosed eyes of a little one,
Gleam forcefully through the night.
His body lies stiff, lifeless,
Under rocks and Hellenic shards.
His small bones
No longer feel pain.

Life keeps moving forward—,
The heart sees, the soul wants.

High on the hill, in the twilight,
A pair of innocent, open eyes,
Spark tenderly
Under rocks and Hellenic shards.