translated by Yannis Goumas

Octavio
Only about you I've never written
your suns, your locusts
                         made me nervous
what the desert does
and takes away my voice
˗ nothing to do with a mirage ˗
whichever way you turn your hourglass
the desert lasts

thus all those sandstorms
that all night entice my bed

love it says
is a prematurely bent landscape

shut up and let me sleep I tell it

                            no
you should dig for water now
I' m thirsty as if I were a poem

for God' s sake, it' s late, think of the neighbours
                             think of the parquet

                           no
dig now for a God

                         thirst's garden

Such are the occupational hazards, Octavio

circle after circle of endurance

circle after circle of hope

with what silences

with what cries it builds us

  [from the collection An even wound, Kedros editions, Athens, 2009]
  One Zero One 1O1 Greek Poets, Odos Panos Publications, Athens, 2013