Kostas Hrisos


This Scar

This scar on my right arm
Is not from a fearsome battle,
Nor from a sporting accident,
Or from a marshal bout in a Dojo.

This scar on my right arm
Is not form an infamous fight
With a drunken clod at a pub,
Or from a fight at match,
Or from a clash with the police.

This scar on my right arm is the result
Of a momentary laps of concentration
While getting a pizza out of the oven.


The high-raised flats.

They are knocking down the flats
by the coast road,

Ordinary lives,
still echoing around
on a blue wallpaper strip
of the children’s bedroom,
on gapping kitchen’s drawers,
muffled by the abandoned sofa.

From a broken window
on the ground floor
aided by draughts
through a missing door
a dirty red curtain is flapping
defiantly,
the cape of the matador
inciting the bulldozer.


Blessings

I was blessed with
The labor of the golden wheat:
Bread for the flesh.

I was blessed with
The labor of the fleshy grape:
Wine for the blood.

I was blessed with
The labor of the sweet olive:
Oil for the kantilli

Kantilli: the little light that burns
with olive oil-oil near the icons.


Just Like Them

Congregated
In a Holy Bible
At the bottom of a drawer

The Holy Trinity,
The Virgin Mary,
Angles, Demons,
Prophets, Apostles,
The Devil
The Four Horsemen,
Among so many others.

Some move with such dexterity
In half-tone gray landscapes,
Sleeves rolled up ceremoniously,
Whispering in hushed and weird tones,
Deliberate their predicament,
Yearning for attention.

Others demonstrate in discontent,
Shouting out loud as in a march,
Or at a football ground,
Demanding my attention.
I hear them all.
I don’t answer.

Nut & Bolt

Spiral threads perfectly match.
Stretched tightened up.
Secure for quite a while, now rusted.

To loosen:
tighten slightly first
or
heat up with an intense flame
or
use some corrosive spray.
Do not use a large spanner,
it will strip the threads away
or they will break.