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]

Clay: 23

Yannis Ritsos

Once again
naked, extreme.
And his hands—
no longer covered—
simply mock
his wristwatch.

Athens—January 18, 1978

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