Clay: 30

Yannis Ritsos

At the building site
boards were nailed up.
Somebody sang:
earth and water,
water and earth.
All ready
for what's to follow.

Athens—January 19, 1978

from Clay (1980) [Collected Poems: IDelta ---pg 92-93]

Clay: 29

Yannis Ritsos

Kindly, quietly
he departs,
gives up his place—
a place that belongs
to his statue
with closed lips
with open arms.

Athens—January 19, 1978

from Clay (1980) [Collected Poems: IDelta ---pg 92]

Clay: 28

Yannis Ritsos

Poetry — he said —
mute confessional
penitent sincerity.
No — said the other —
unexpected insignificant
nipped on one corner
by a nail clipper.
Poetry is, as a result,
not a perfect square.

Athens—January 19, 1978

from Clay (1980) [Collected Poems: IDelta ---pg 92]

Clay: 27

Yannis Ritsos

Empty rooms
naked beds
the broom in the corner
the vacant cage
and this mirror
dark, gluttonous
still insisting
you look into it.

Athens—January 18, 1978

from Clay (1980) [Collected Poems: IDelta ---pg 91]

Clay: 26

Yannis Ritsos

Pieces of cotton
not for the wound—
as evening falls
resplendent—
for the mouth
for the ears
for the eyes.

Athens—January 18, 1978

from Clay (1980) [Collected Poems: IDelta ---pg 91]

Clay: 25

Yannis Ritsos

The marble
that forms the statue
and that which is
not the statue
and that which remains
hidden in the deep mountains
I was advised not to
reveal. Only
they didn't tell me how.

Athens—January 18, 1978

from Clay (1980) [Collected Poems: IDelta ---pg 90-91]

Clay: 24

Yannis Ritsos

He took a chair
out to the garden
watched the shadow
kicked a stone.
Most of all
of late
the words hate me.

Athens—January 18, 1978

from Clay (1980) [Collected Poems: IDelta ---pg 90]