Yannis Ritsos Poems
31
Yannis Ritsos: A Selection from the Forties The selection from Yannis Ritsos' poetry that follows is not so much representative as it is indicative. It is meant to point to certain aesthetic tendencies and conceptual structures that have characterized Ritsos' work from the very beginning of his literary activity until today. In that sense, at least, the eight poems pub- lished here can be said to constitute an exemplary selection. —The Editors
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Transcript of Yannis Ritsos Poems
Yannis Ritsos: A Selection from the Forties
The selection from Yannis Ritsos' poetry that follows is not so much representative as it is indicative. It is meant to point to certain aesthetic tendencies and conceptual structures that have characterized Ritsos' work from the very beginning of his literary activity until today. In that sense, at least, the eight poems pub- lished here can be said to constitute an exemplary selection.
—The Editors
MEZANYXTA
Meyikri &atpocpsyytat Sairiovta4 to ?up& T./1G yOxca, (3111trca, TC06 xXifiouy thy incvo aou, nock Elm ouit6; 6 iaxtoc TCOU iivel3alvat aT6 =Pave %,613orca.; aTix Sub 'Sty wittapa;
Nticrca, [la Ito.roatnai.ca , 6 xp6toc axavS&Xri;- tb at& TV4p.ca toff nopdcOupou, oE xcaaapfaeg azek TVX7C mita= xat, at& xpivli 'taw cpav-cipcov.
Ti xpeccgetat aup,n6vLo& nt,24 tou apayycyto5; 'AXXot. Tpunibaocy a764 wrcchoraa, try; Acra,q, axxot pircIto‘y at& opipsTpcc scat -cigt,Saliouv, &AXot ni)pco to last8c6: tou -cocp.stou xoct napacuaav tb x(Bp.c& -mug,
a,13.cbc 6 axUXo; not') [Lag Uxocas yaul4st ndc.Xt at6 cpeTy&pc, coU; cppoupob atac ttaxpLy& cpuVosLa,,
npdmil Expribl TcyciCec tb yepOpc, tiatepa of rcap-cec .z4ouv, ate rot& atixst tb a7C6ancasp,ce, niptouve to cpavdcpcot vapo6puTcc dcxotiye-ccu .76 acptiptypa To°
TpaEvou Scat/ of nilece bp6p.ot xisEvoyta,t, dm' 'a; X6yxec.
sOrcthf3p7ig 1941
MIDNIGHT
A great starry night showing its bear claws, foreign footsteps stealing your sleep, what is this shadow climbing on the ceiling cutting the room in half ?
Footsteps, a motorcycle, the trigger's sound — the lantern through the windowpanes, the cockroaches in the soldiers' shoes and helmets.
What's the use of the moon's compassion now? Some have hidden in the trunks of the night, some have entered the coffins and travel, some have taken the cashier's keys and surrendered their earth, and this dog that forgot us barks again at the moon, awakens the sentries at the distant watchtowers, the first explosion blows up the bridge, then the doors creak, at the corner stands the squadron, the street lamps fall face down and the train's whistling is heard when all five roads are closed by the bayonets.
Athens, October 1941
MATA I QMENH AIIOIAEH
11,64Xtot avettot, gxouv Icipst 731 06071 llocc arts yup.vig 7c€6464aeg. OXct stvat 76ao Tcca.464 —144' 645731 31 Adwacc4 Tcoti cpu4sc p,t& aPics[tivii
Oalceaaoypacpla xe b raxtog To0 xpePPoc7to0 to Aostist atb 7cistotic4 Itat 764 poOxo4 7cs7cciiivcc atilv xo4p6xXo4 —6 icsactplvo; 764 7C0Cpecciias Sw xittou.
K' kb tl yupst5scg pE T607) 7"Ct[LOV7j a17161J0Y7OGC -424 xipta aou adc vd4 7po4Pa.; 764 axotvc64 gv6g Icapc41340
tot; yX4a7pist a76 rirmato;
`0 d4yipocc 70)4E4 c& cp6)704 Tc6X73c, ikcyce4st, 764 Siv7pct, sc4(bvst 76 My° xop7dcpc ytirm Totic TriXsypc4cpotok a7aoug-
tisydasc GX,Cig 137ip,OV401)V CrCe4 XCEI6CYCpanGt, xabs avOpo7co4 gxst, gvo4 stop,p4474 17dcro nem) atip %%pate& TOU, oE soc4v7dcpot 847CX6VOYCOGC CrCb d4[I,7CiXWV6 tour, I.Olt,i0010 to 17:ZIA "C(7))0 cppoupthy a764 yuAdcxtoc.
Aomby 76 ipscg. KC gimog 71 thcpslet TCOti pstg.; Ne57cactv %ad, 764 Unify= — aav p7copECs v' ivervintg 76) 7acyd4po sou.
Tthpa, 6 xa7cv6c atistsc &cpwvo6 7ukvou dot' 76 ptXt not) xcivce mkt) 76v mucv6 no6 a7ixec atbv 6gov7c4 acivou -c6 xocad454 rco6
Xedhixe.
11046 auvLiAo empoaPtiet 17dtvou Tby ecrOotot.tivo rim placc a76 accvtaiwo 170Gpi7vilyp,cc ; "E o.) 3j Ppoxi) Sipvec Tok gprktoug a7pcmbvsg, nyfyst 737 ackX7nyio4 xelv.r1 TcoO 'xs cpcogst gym-gym 764 6v6itch7c4, Itoualtstist tour Tcdayv4oug twv wirmov. ,L1v gxouv 764 Tcc4cacat no0 va&
zalMaouv.
POSTPONED DECISION
Old winds have replaced us on the bare plains. Everything is so old — and this lamp lighting a faded seascape and the bed's shadow falling obliquely on the floor and the clothes thrown on the chair — the dead man abandoned them down here.
And you, what are you seeking so persistently extending your hands as if pulling the ropes of a ship gliding
into the unknown?
The wind encircles the lights of the city, torments the trees, uproots the little grass around the telegraph poles — large shadows pace on the cobblestones, each man has a piece of ice in his heart, the soldiers wrap themselves with their jackets, the guard's feet freeze at the watchtowers.
Well, you know it. Yet what's the use of knowing? The matches got wet too — you can't light your cigarette.
Now the smoke stands voiceless over the kiss that burned like the smoke staying on the horizon above the ship that
vanished.
What signal flickers over the spread-out map in the wooden barracks? Outside the rain lashes at the desolate camp, smothers that bugle which had called the names one by one, moistens the benches in the gardens. The children have no
place to sit.
62 JOURNAL OP THE HELLENIC DIASPORA
°Eva 7CC7COtkat ILOG .ttoplvo arts 3p6p.o. "Eva 7c66t swayi.ivo st6 rcouto6tcst.. Keucoco; TrIciBast a'rc' cb mpieupo. T1 ap6o.
6[1,wc av gapapvsc Tb x6pc .c6 plumo — erne — Oa '4v:sae; slIzoAcc tib TeXetnato TcapiOupo. Mat eruotutp6 sou
sa' 6 xaepicp-rti; p.i -c6v mixt6 oUpav6 ITivou ciTC' Xarca sou %0GTC \get.
svocyeg €5aoXa 'spina aril v6rca.
Mck Yaw; abyt vck 6slec gva mavo6pyto npdaonco xocOcbs 0' avo6youv Tat nav4o6pta 06pu43o, Yaw; a6yil. T6 CpC.OTELV6 TETpirovo crc6 icaTow.a. Tat xipteAa coG xpePaTto0 kaxpucsoviva. "Eva ataspcoplvo
vouxittwo. K' w crs6 6p6p.o Iva natat no6 6wacast Ta npeirca AA-tivcx6:
atacp6).m.
Yannis Ritsos: A Selection from the Forties 63
A bloodstained shoe in the street. A foot stuck in the shoe. Someone leaps out of the window. What cold. Yet if you brought the hand to the forehead — he said — you'd have found the last window easily. And opposite you is
the mirror with the thick sky over the lamp that smokes. You'd easily have made a hole in the night.
But perhaps dawn will reveal a new face as the shutters will open noisily, perhaps the dawn. The shining square on the floor. The bed's headboard gilded. An ironed shirt. And outside in the street a child crying out the first Greek grapes.
Athens, March 1942
H TEAEYTA I A TEA. EKATONTA ET I A
Ka-clicp6ptsav axtattiva xt-abvta, ph TcaAtat v-coucpixtot atxtoG tixop,t aTb yuAt6 SExo.); atpottpec. Movaxa ptxpac boytoltiva 7LOTil/CC4 xXstvav Tat Tzepaspa-ca
7C/a0.) TODC.
Etxav f3a6/set pitiveG %at ivilveg Tcavou s' ayvtotneg rci-cpEc Tcavou atb xt6vt p.cct 1.0 TiG &Xcic -coug Itat OGIITCiACM TOO; — a,AA0C %si Tcdtvou gva Tcbat gym xipc a,XXoc piritAo %ottp.dt.st -cou Ita06vag x' gvav Tadtspouq vexpot%.
"rs-csoct riptaav p.i -ct; TcX7Tyig %at Tat %puorcarlipata OcI4ave Tat v-coucpixta TOD; GT& floaxta, a:6 xtOvt, arts %outpiXE;
-ctT)v Siv-cpco a'cb etxotlot, civdtp,ssa crci.y71 )tat -caPavt, cycil syrcetvil TtoU (3yget cs-c6 nfato pipog -cis vtirrac 1f Iva li.mpb Aaaoapdtvapo
"E-cots xAstatIlivTi Irby= kw; Tgouv -cat adv-cta Tb Tb xtdvt gXettove. liatif3atvav psydact notapta pis' a'c vt5rcot p.at xr5mtaXa, 7C7P7pCLCG %Mt axtspivec sTittotiec.
Tat TCapecOupcc xXetvotv Tat ildt-ctot TOOg. Tat TVcilta Si piyyay. Eatv ToUg TutpAotic. Kot-cotisav %at& [Lisa.
"Eftpexs Suvwcat stst've pipsg. Tb Tcotallt 5tot-ciflatve .c14 cr-c6ye; attic Aotixtot atTc' Tat Aothaa Trot% ap6p,ou;
at7c6 xei cs-coO; OTcOvoloug x,' licrcepa mat Siv fiEspec.
"Epive p.tat vo.vrct cs-carctat ypap,p1) et7c6 OtyvtosTo picsa crcily noAttefa la= avI viirrot s %at visa crcbv fiTcvo. "E t to em s 'CilY %AstStopivii xivapa cs-cbv xotvb Stapop.o Tcdtvou amptPtiig mat savatot c nOp-cac, gvaG 7ce0apivoc 6pOto; Tcarca, emoupacogas Tin) TCAdtvg T011 wily Tcdp-cot Tafirri p Tack-cli civ rivotyag Da stoptc46utv.
Yannis Ritsos: A Selection from the Forties 65
from THE LAST ONE HUNDRED YEARS BEFORE MAN
They ran downhill in torn jackets, with old guns without bread in their knapsacks without bullets. Only with small angry rivers did they blockade the passages
behind them.
They had marched for months on unfamiliar stones on the snow together with their olive groves and vineyards — up there some left a leg a hand some a big piece of their souls each left one or more dead.
Then they returned with wounds and frostbites they buried their guns in the rocks, the snow, the hollows
of trees the barn, in between the roof and the ceiling, in the dark
warehouse leading to the back of the night with a small oil lamp of
patience.
The locked door creaked as teeth gnash in the told. The snow melted. Big rivers came down in the night along with bones, caps and tattered flags.
The windows shut their eyes. The windowpanes didn't shine. Like blind men. They looked inward.
It rained hard those days. The river came down the roofs into the drainpipes and from the drainpipes into the
streets and from there into the sewers — and then you didn't know where.
A fresh ashen line of the unknown remained in the city in the night even in sleep. Outside 'the locked room in the common corridor just on top of the door planks, a dead man standing always, leaned his back against the door, back to back — if you had opened he'd have collapsed.
66 JOURNAL OF THE HELLENIC DIASPORA
06TE A6yog Tccat vat xotp.710atc o5TE X6yog vat yup/aetc an' &XXo aou 7tAsup6.
MAX& (3rjph= a-csyydt, axo-cetvat —13-11µa-ca Uva alb ap6p.o crct axOtAa
y6pto ax6 'va xopo,&-ct =tont gva xop.pit-ct niyo Biwa° — 6iv 'Weg —
ytipto dtx6 latt tliuxp6 xat crcpoyyt)X6 xt' etp.i-coxo. K' gym pAxp6 acpatoESto
LSti) 'j Etat px-ca-co74ov-cav n&v.ta xXeca-c6 xt' 6X6xAlpo aaty -thy 6Bpdcp-rupo at6 ni-ctop.a dtif Tb arcaap.ivo Ospp,6p.s-coo.
'Enptop.iva )(tooth., Eepon6-capa gym ava).611-co spb xaXotatpt. Bottf3apatagyeg hotAnatig. "Eva; ,icncpog aysp.oc acp6ge a&v Thy tpsAAb tP&A-c71 7co5 -cpayo6baye kpta wondoptot =6
v-coutpsx18 t nal* Tic p,ith-ceg Tov alto-m*6°u cgttoita-ctxop
criixons -cat piaa Too xat 7c736oCiag -c6 cpp&xvq. E-co6; -cofxotn jTav af3lai_tiva -cat csuvOlip.aca. Tx6x(ocpot xayoyto(3oAtap.ot a-c6
13i0oq, xap,Tikat a'thy 64ov-ca 3j atyaXtat Tor) xaplyou 7coAgp.ou. 'Eva &Xoyo
axo-ctottivo crciiv 7cXayt&.
Erxe xoXkijast 6 niyoc 'cal 7ZGC7COISTCYL attifil0 %da"CCM, Trjy x&X-caa alb rthat.
eat ccvdcp8oup.s — etTcay. Kai Sixtoc 7c66ta Oat avipeoup.a. Tottav of dtpanoat-ctic
xap&Ezvot a& vat µ2Z; ax4ay to xap-ctat IL TeeL 7CM-CpLOYCMA -Cpayo158ca pac
a& vat Wig acv Tic ayip.aisc !lag. Doh Xtrat atiyyscpa xpillowcav Itivou alb Pouv6 a& 666 7asEo08e; ax6°So allaa a' Iva
.4dtxt a' gym f3op.PaoStapivo a7tCTC. N& xp643oup.s -co0-ro Tb cpdic p31 pit; -th gripouve xt' a6T6 — 7to0 v6c, -c6 xpt4oupz ; stns. `0 .5,XXoc xot-cotiae °cat v6xta IOU. %UWE.
The selection from Yannis Ritsos' poetry that follows is not so much representative as it is indicative. It is meant to point to certain aesthetic tendencies and conceptual structures that have characterized Ritsos' work from the very beginning of his literary activity until today. In that sense, at least, the eight poems pub- lished here can be said to constitute an exemplary selection.
—The Editors
MEZANYXTA
Meyikri &atpocpsyytat Sairiovta4 to ?up& T./1G yOxca, (3111trca, TC06 xXifiouy thy incvo aou, nock Elm ouit6; 6 iaxtoc TCOU iivel3alvat aT6 =Pave %,613orca.; aTix Sub 'Sty wittapa;
Nticrca, [la Ito.roatnai.ca , 6 xp6toc axavS&Xri;- tb at& TV4p.ca toff nopdcOupou, oE xcaaapfaeg azek TVX7C mita= xat, at& xpivli 'taw cpav-cipcov.
Ti xpeccgetat aup,n6vLo& nt,24 tou apayycyto5; 'AXXot. Tpunibaocy a764 wrcchoraa, try; Acra,q, axxot pircIto‘y at& opipsTpcc scat -cigt,Saliouv, &AXot ni)pco to last8c6: tou -cocp.stou xoct napacuaav tb x(Bp.c& -mug,
a,13.cbc 6 axUXo; not') [Lag Uxocas yaul4st ndc.Xt at6 cpeTy&pc, coU; cppoupob atac ttaxpLy& cpuVosLa,,
npdmil Expribl TcyciCec tb yepOpc, tiatepa of rcap-cec .z4ouv, ate rot& atixst tb a7C6ancasp,ce, niptouve to cpavdcpcot vapo6puTcc dcxotiye-ccu .76 acptiptypa To°
TpaEvou Scat/ of nilece bp6p.ot xisEvoyta,t, dm' 'a; X6yxec.
sOrcthf3p7ig 1941
MIDNIGHT
A great starry night showing its bear claws, foreign footsteps stealing your sleep, what is this shadow climbing on the ceiling cutting the room in half ?
Footsteps, a motorcycle, the trigger's sound — the lantern through the windowpanes, the cockroaches in the soldiers' shoes and helmets.
What's the use of the moon's compassion now? Some have hidden in the trunks of the night, some have entered the coffins and travel, some have taken the cashier's keys and surrendered their earth, and this dog that forgot us barks again at the moon, awakens the sentries at the distant watchtowers, the first explosion blows up the bridge, then the doors creak, at the corner stands the squadron, the street lamps fall face down and the train's whistling is heard when all five roads are closed by the bayonets.
Athens, October 1941
MATA I QMENH AIIOIAEH
11,64Xtot avettot, gxouv Icipst 731 06071 llocc arts yup.vig 7c€6464aeg. OXct stvat 76ao Tcca.464 —144' 645731 31 Adwacc4 Tcoti cpu4sc p,t& aPics[tivii
Oalceaaoypacpla xe b raxtog To0 xpePPoc7to0 to Aostist atb 7cistotic4 Itat 764 poOxo4 7cs7cciiivcc atilv xo4p6xXo4 —6 icsactplvo; 764 7C0Cpecciias Sw xittou.
K' kb tl yupst5scg pE T607) 7"Ct[LOV7j a17161J0Y7OGC -424 xipta aou adc vd4 7po4Pa.; 764 axotvc64 gv6g Icapc41340
tot; yX4a7pist a76 rirmato;
`0 d4yipocc 70)4E4 c& cp6)704 Tc6X73c, ikcyce4st, 764 Siv7pct, sc4(bvst 76 My° xop7dcpc ytirm Totic TriXsypc4cpotok a7aoug-
tisydasc GX,Cig 137ip,OV401)V CrCe4 XCEI6CYCpanGt, xabs avOpo7co4 gxst, gvo4 stop,p4474 17dcro nem) atip %%pate& TOU, oE soc4v7dcpot 847CX6VOYCOGC CrCb d4[I,7CiXWV6 tour, I.Olt,i0010 to 17:ZIA "C(7))0 cppoupthy a764 yuAdcxtoc.
Aomby 76 ipscg. KC gimog 71 thcpslet TCOti pstg.; Ne57cactv %ad, 764 Unify= — aav p7copECs v' ivervintg 76) 7acyd4po sou.
Tthpa, 6 xa7cv6c atistsc &cpwvo6 7ukvou dot' 76 ptXt not) xcivce mkt) 76v mucv6 no6 a7ixec atbv 6gov7c4 acivou -c6 xocad454 rco6
Xedhixe.
11046 auvLiAo empoaPtiet 17dtvou Tby ecrOotot.tivo rim placc a76 accvtaiwo 170Gpi7vilyp,cc ; "E o.) 3j Ppoxi) Sipvec Tok gprktoug a7pcmbvsg, nyfyst 737 ackX7nyio4 xelv.r1 TcoO 'xs cpcogst gym-gym 764 6v6itch7c4, Itoualtstist tour Tcdayv4oug twv wirmov. ,L1v gxouv 764 Tcc4cacat no0 va&
zalMaouv.
POSTPONED DECISION
Old winds have replaced us on the bare plains. Everything is so old — and this lamp lighting a faded seascape and the bed's shadow falling obliquely on the floor and the clothes thrown on the chair — the dead man abandoned them down here.
And you, what are you seeking so persistently extending your hands as if pulling the ropes of a ship gliding
into the unknown?
The wind encircles the lights of the city, torments the trees, uproots the little grass around the telegraph poles — large shadows pace on the cobblestones, each man has a piece of ice in his heart, the soldiers wrap themselves with their jackets, the guard's feet freeze at the watchtowers.
Well, you know it. Yet what's the use of knowing? The matches got wet too — you can't light your cigarette.
Now the smoke stands voiceless over the kiss that burned like the smoke staying on the horizon above the ship that
vanished.
What signal flickers over the spread-out map in the wooden barracks? Outside the rain lashes at the desolate camp, smothers that bugle which had called the names one by one, moistens the benches in the gardens. The children have no
place to sit.
62 JOURNAL OP THE HELLENIC DIASPORA
°Eva 7CC7COtkat ILOG .ttoplvo arts 3p6p.o. "Eva 7c66t swayi.ivo st6 rcouto6tcst.. Keucoco; TrIciBast a'rc' cb mpieupo. T1 ap6o.
6[1,wc av gapapvsc Tb x6pc .c6 plumo — erne — Oa '4v:sae; slIzoAcc tib TeXetnato TcapiOupo. Mat eruotutp6 sou
sa' 6 xaepicp-rti; p.i -c6v mixt6 oUpav6 ITivou ciTC' Xarca sou %0GTC \get.
svocyeg €5aoXa 'spina aril v6rca.
Mck Yaw; abyt vck 6slec gva mavo6pyto npdaonco xocOcbs 0' avo6youv Tat nav4o6pta 06pu43o, Yaw; a6yil. T6 CpC.OTELV6 TETpirovo crc6 icaTow.a. Tat xipteAa coG xpePaTto0 kaxpucsoviva. "Eva ataspcoplvo
vouxittwo. K' w crs6 6p6p.o Iva natat no6 6wacast Ta npeirca AA-tivcx6:
atacp6).m.
Yannis Ritsos: A Selection from the Forties 63
A bloodstained shoe in the street. A foot stuck in the shoe. Someone leaps out of the window. What cold. Yet if you brought the hand to the forehead — he said — you'd have found the last window easily. And opposite you is
the mirror with the thick sky over the lamp that smokes. You'd easily have made a hole in the night.
But perhaps dawn will reveal a new face as the shutters will open noisily, perhaps the dawn. The shining square on the floor. The bed's headboard gilded. An ironed shirt. And outside in the street a child crying out the first Greek grapes.
Athens, March 1942
H TEAEYTA I A TEA. EKATONTA ET I A
Ka-clicp6ptsav axtattiva xt-abvta, ph TcaAtat v-coucpixtot atxtoG tixop,t aTb yuAt6 SExo.); atpottpec. Movaxa ptxpac boytoltiva 7LOTil/CC4 xXstvav Tat Tzepaspa-ca
7C/a0.) TODC.
Etxav f3a6/set pitiveG %at ivilveg Tcavou s' ayvtotneg rci-cpEc Tcavou atb xt6vt p.cct 1.0 TiG &Xcic -coug Itat OGIITCiACM TOO; — a,AA0C %si Tcdtvou gva Tcbat gym xipc a,XXoc piritAo %ottp.dt.st -cou Ita06vag x' gvav Tadtspouq vexpot%.
"rs-csoct riptaav p.i -ct; TcX7Tyig %at Tat %puorcarlipata OcI4ave Tat v-coucpixta TOD; GT& floaxta, a:6 xtOvt, arts %outpiXE;
-ctT)v Siv-cpco a'cb etxotlot, civdtp,ssa crci.y71 )tat -caPavt, cycil syrcetvil TtoU (3yget cs-c6 nfato pipog -cis vtirrac 1f Iva li.mpb Aaaoapdtvapo
"E-cots xAstatIlivTi Irby= kw; Tgouv -cat adv-cta Tb Tb xtdvt gXettove. liatif3atvav psydact notapta pis' a'c vt5rcot p.at xr5mtaXa, 7C7P7pCLCG %Mt axtspivec sTittotiec.
Tat TCapecOupcc xXetvotv Tat ildt-ctot TOOg. Tat TVcilta Si piyyay. Eatv ToUg TutpAotic. Kot-cotisav %at& [Lisa.
"Eftpexs Suvwcat stst've pipsg. Tb Tcotallt 5tot-ciflatve .c14 cr-c6ye; attic Aotixtot atTc' Tat Aothaa Trot% ap6p,ou;
at7c6 xei cs-coO; OTcOvoloug x,' licrcepa mat Siv fiEspec.
"Epive p.tat vo.vrct cs-carctat ypap,p1) et7c6 OtyvtosTo picsa crcily noAttefa la= avI viirrot s %at visa crcbv fiTcvo. "E t to em s 'CilY %AstStopivii xivapa cs-cbv xotvb Stapop.o Tcdtvou amptPtiig mat savatot c nOp-cac, gvaG 7ce0apivoc 6pOto; Tcarca, emoupacogas Tin) TCAdtvg T011 wily Tcdp-cot Tafirri p Tack-cli civ rivotyag Da stoptc46utv.
Yannis Ritsos: A Selection from the Forties 65
from THE LAST ONE HUNDRED YEARS BEFORE MAN
They ran downhill in torn jackets, with old guns without bread in their knapsacks without bullets. Only with small angry rivers did they blockade the passages
behind them.
They had marched for months on unfamiliar stones on the snow together with their olive groves and vineyards — up there some left a leg a hand some a big piece of their souls each left one or more dead.
Then they returned with wounds and frostbites they buried their guns in the rocks, the snow, the hollows
of trees the barn, in between the roof and the ceiling, in the dark
warehouse leading to the back of the night with a small oil lamp of
patience.
The locked door creaked as teeth gnash in the told. The snow melted. Big rivers came down in the night along with bones, caps and tattered flags.
The windows shut their eyes. The windowpanes didn't shine. Like blind men. They looked inward.
It rained hard those days. The river came down the roofs into the drainpipes and from the drainpipes into the
streets and from there into the sewers — and then you didn't know where.
A fresh ashen line of the unknown remained in the city in the night even in sleep. Outside 'the locked room in the common corridor just on top of the door planks, a dead man standing always, leaned his back against the door, back to back — if you had opened he'd have collapsed.
66 JOURNAL OF THE HELLENIC DIASPORA
06TE A6yog Tccat vat xotp.710atc o5TE X6yog vat yup/aetc an' &XXo aou 7tAsup6.
MAX& (3rjph= a-csyydt, axo-cetvat —13-11µa-ca Uva alb ap6p.o crct axOtAa
y6pto ax6 'va xopo,&-ct =tont gva xop.pit-ct niyo Biwa° — 6iv 'Weg —
ytipto dtx6 latt tliuxp6 xat crcpoyyt)X6 xt' etp.i-coxo. K' gym pAxp6 acpatoESto
LSti) 'j Etat px-ca-co74ov-cav n&v.ta xXeca-c6 xt' 6X6xAlpo aaty -thy 6Bpdcp-rupo at6 ni-ctop.a dtif Tb arcaap.ivo Ospp,6p.s-coo.
'Enptop.iva )(tooth., Eepon6-capa gym ava).611-co spb xaXotatpt. Bottf3apatagyeg hotAnatig. "Eva; ,icncpog aysp.oc acp6ge a&v Thy tpsAAb tP&A-c71 7co5 -cpayo6baye kpta wondoptot =6
v-coutpsx18 t nal* Tic p,ith-ceg Tov alto-m*6°u cgttoita-ctxop
criixons -cat piaa Too xat 7c736oCiag -c6 cpp&xvq. E-co6; -cofxotn jTav af3lai_tiva -cat csuvOlip.aca. Tx6x(ocpot xayoyto(3oAtap.ot a-c6
13i0oq, xap,Tikat a'thy 64ov-ca 3j atyaXtat Tor) xaplyou 7coAgp.ou. 'Eva &Xoyo
axo-ctottivo crciiv 7cXayt&.
Erxe xoXkijast 6 niyoc 'cal 7ZGC7COISTCYL attifil0 %da"CCM, Trjy x&X-caa alb rthat.
eat ccvdcp8oup.s — etTcay. Kai Sixtoc 7c66ta Oat avipeoup.a. Tottav of dtpanoat-ctic
xap&Ezvot a& vat µ2Z; ax4ay to xap-ctat IL TeeL 7CM-CpLOYCMA -Cpayo158ca pac
a& vat Wig acv Tic ayip.aisc !lag. Doh Xtrat atiyyscpa xpillowcav Itivou alb Pouv6 a& 666 7asEo08e; ax6°So allaa a' Iva
.4dtxt a' gym f3op.PaoStapivo a7tCTC. N& xp643oup.s -co0-ro Tb cpdic p31 pit; -th gripouve xt' a6T6 — 7to0 v6c, -c6 xpt4oupz ; stns. `0 .5,XXoc xot-cotiae °cat v6xta IOU. %UWE.
