Glory Without Beauty
I sing of fallen ancestors
I am the dog of the stars
with my eyes I look up
with my hands I celebrate the mud
Nikos Karouzos
Captain Yiannis
was truly brave
helping lift
the country from the mud
fighting the enemy
he burned souls
conquered lands
bled girls
he claimed his territories
as far as the eye could see
he founded a kingdom
he also bought Popaki
a fourteen-year-old girl
a flower that never came to bloom
he bore her nine children
two were lost before her
the nights screamed their names
The captain also served as mayor
he was held in high regard
when he died, he left them
all the gold in the world
Stavros, the youngest grandchild
saw his grandfather in a dream
shining atop a horse
the torch aflame
in the darkness, the underlings
dragged him by the feet
[Mania Meziti, 2024]
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Edited by Mania Meziti