Second Series
Yannos Ritsos 1909-1990
14.
In the white egg,
a yellow chick
a blue song
26.
The new moon
hides up its sleeve – you saw it? –
a knife
52.
Naked, astride an elephant,
the moon crosses the river.
Dewdrops shimmering at its feet.
61.
Guatemala, Nicaragua, Salvador.
Where did so many bodies go? On a tree, wind-swept,
a pair of worn trousers.
63.
Where is the time to light a cigarette,
to look at a star, to speak with a turtle,
to scratch your nose, and fart?
80.
Seek not, want not, be not.
I bite – he says – a bitter apple.
Freedom
104.
They tagged you an illiterate, those idle bureaucrats.
Unaware how on arid islands you memorized
the twelve Gospels of the Struggle.