translated by Yannis Goumas

The emptier the larger the room becomes
the loved ones depart
they hold a lighted candle
of their soul
they cared for it, held it as they could
a yellow flower soft in the flowing world
In times of sterility
flooding

a dam

now they are waiting patiently
for the great deluge
the uprooting
and the line is lessening
shadows are settling
the dark is winning

The last one will relate the strangest of stories

he’ll tell about the children found in the night
playing barefooted
in the furzes
about their shouts and laughter
echoing loudly
in the gardens
he’ll recount it in a pure stentorian voice
as if it were the world’s first story
the most beautiful
though he knows that there’s no one left to hear it

afterwards he’ll shut the door gently
behind him, taking with him
his light

    Terrarium, the Ward’s Case, Melani Publications, Athens, 2014