Clay: 37

Yannis Ritsos

Metal on metal
hammer on anvil
wheel on rail.
In between each clang
is a bird
not yet killed
coming from the other side.

Athens—January 20, 1978



from Clay (1980) [Collected Poems: IDelta ---pg 95]

Clay: 36

Yannis Ritsos

Yellow afternoon
headache
empty houses
water flowing in the hallway.
Where's the plumber?
Where's the poem?

Athens—January 20, 1978



from Clay (1980) [Collected Poems: IDelta ---pg 95]

Clay: 35

Yannis Ritsos
 
Unrolled on the road
a huge roll
of red-colored cloth.
Passersby
walked along its edge
but didn’t step onto it.
The road was deserted.
The next day
trucks drove over it.
There was no longer any cloth.
The road was red.

Athens—January 20, 1978


from Clay (1980) [Collected Poems: IDelta ---pg 94]

Clay: 33

Yannis Ritsos

He took off
his beautiful mask
and placed it
on the bed.
His face completely
incomprehensible
appeared bloody.
Then the dice were cast.

Athens—January 20, 1978


from Clay (1980) [Collected Poems: IDelta ---pg 94]

Clay: 32

Yannis Ritsos

So many twisting tasks
he completely lost
his way.
Perhaps they asked about him—
then went searching
to find him.
Dark gave way to dawn.
Soon it will rain.
No one is looking for him.

Athens—January 19, 1978


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

Clay: 31

Yannis Ritsos

I hid it well—
the only evidence
a mountain
and the woodcutter.

          Athens—January 19, 1978


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

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]

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]

Clay: 22

Yannis Ritsos

He sits on the bridge
watching the water
(what will he do?)
whistling.
The arsonists
hid in the church.


Athens—January 18, 1978

from Clay (1980) [Collected Poems: IDelta ---pg 89]

Clay: 21

Yannis Ritsos

You shall capture a little
of the olive grove's color
the horse on the hill.
And then what?
Bulldozers scrape off the fields
pipes are run
the month of January
and from the other part
has no shops.


Athens—January 18, 1978

from Clay (1980) [Collected Poems: IDelta ---pg 89]

Clay: 20

Yannis Ritsos

The hand I moved
to rest upon your shoulder
I took back again.
A glass of water
left on the window ledge
above the statues
and the news vendors.


Athens—January 18, 1978

from Clay (1980) [Collected Poems: IDelta ---pg 88-89]

Clay: 19

Yannis Ritsos

In the square, they'd left
a basket.
You didn't open it.
Perhaps oranges
perhaps snakes.
The night watchman
shined his flashlight
at your face.


Athens—January 17, 1978

from Clay (1980) [Collected Poems: IDelta ---pg 88]

Clay: 18

Yannis Ritsos

A suffocating dimension
beneath the water
alongside the fish.
You caught hold of the coin
carried it up to the surface.
You took a deep breath.
It wasn't gold.


Athens—January 17, 1978

from Clay (1980) [Collected Poems: IDelta ---pg 88]

Clay: 17

Yannis Ritsos

I'll sit in the chair
I'll smoke my cigarette
I'll think about the nails
in the yellow wall
the ones I didn't use to hang
the nearly invisible picture frame
the shaving mirror
and the wolf skin.


Athens—January 17, 1978

from Clay (1980) [Collected Poems: IDelta ---pg 87]