Poems

Worry not of tempests to be
Moments cannot be embottled
Rain might wash you away
Yet time already does

My worldview
man's night vision
lit by a candle

It has only been an eternity
of waters not flowing
What the will makes aeons undo
I shall no longer compare
golden eagle to grey dove
Let this be my sole expectation

Vipers bite those who wait for perfection
Your fear and discontent is their prey
Find acceptance in the cold waters
It can only ever be with what is available
The number of acquaintances matters not
but only who walks beside you as an equal

Our finest flowers
dreams of yesteryear
food for horses
In this world
ready or not
Time finds you

Ignore the conflagration
We shall ban the A-word
None will hate us then

There is a world, beloved,
where we stand together
holding hands
overlooking the Mediterranean
The scent coming from
orange orchards and cedar forests
reminds us of our shared humanity
It is not diversity that divides us
but the misbegotten notion that
bodies must always fall

A season ends, another begins
The days are shorter now
Crows and magpies reappear
The grapes are left behind
to turn into raisins
A bad vintage by all accounts
Let the birds feast on them
There will be a tomorrow regardless
Befriend the oak trees
They are there for all of us
And heed their wisdom
that tolerance of cold winds
does not constitute warmth within
With or without comforts
only in community you find
what you truly need

There are moments
when you wish
you could show
what has no appearance

While listening to Johny Cash
I travel to where Gypsy's pub is
The old man ever quiet behind the bar
amid bottles of rum and whisky
serving those with nowhere to go
Contemplating the dark outlines
around the Mediterranean blue
mindful of not being noticed once
now away from festive lights
I know they too will fade away
once I open my eyes for another day

When darkness besets you, fear it not
It is but an invitation
to perform a leap of faith
into a whole new world of possibilities

In your loneliest nights
the crickets
will provide you with
a sense of perspective

When man and wolf are one
there is but lightness
Dark are the spaces
where individuality is suppressed

You have found your balance
when you consistently moonbathe
along the skyward path

From the Balkan trenches
to the Cypriot pine forests
Like a century ago
in those amber eyes
Zenon's lookalike finds
renewed excitement

Blue and yellow
like the feathers
of the bee-eater
A blend of emotions
is our life
And a contrast
of desires

Atop Eagle Rock I witness another moonrise
A blend of moments is our life
Carry the light of those silver skies
to the ravine of the nightingales
Ask not "for how long?" but only "how?"

In the age of the dragonborn the child's grey-blue eyes turn brown
Those pine tree branches are growing away from the oak's shade
Two dogs shall have their nightly walk despite the tempests
Reality is what one's condition renders inescapable

On the path of the hawthorns
the temperate owl reminds you
to understand, not judge

In the presence of the moment
you are holding nothing back
when you are enamoured of colours

On windy days
pine trees sing
the song of seas

No matter the place
the heart will travel
to distant shores

Enter the nascent grove
where secrets are told
and follow the rhythm

With each wave
new life forms emerge
as others wash away

Find trees and seas
witness transfiguration anew
and dance to their beat

At the blossoming almond tree
the humble ones shall learn
Quiet your inner voice
Let nature show you
how even in your cold January days
a new cycle begins

Olympos fades into blue
The last sun rays give it warmth
I am reminded of the lavenders
beneath the Eucalyptus
at the pine tree of Atlas
As I walk past the giant fennels
I wonder, "are these raindrops?"
"Or tears of joy?"
I cannot tell anymore

Once you reach the slopes
of the hundred magpies
and meet the eagle hovering above
you shall recognise how
that which is experienced
with all the senses
cannot be reduced to words

As you carry this shrub
bathed in moonlight
You recall your duty
to be an oak to your milieu

Balancing atop the white poplar
With no leaves left to hide under
On a day when hunters shoot indiscriminately
You remind us of the great heroine
who saw in you more than a prey bird

Undisturbed you shall enter the magi's domain
With no expectations, no indecision, no regrets
Your outlook is aligned with your actuality
In self-forgiveness you walk the enchanted lands
And as you look skyward, the eagles salute you

At an indeterminate place
As figures of thought we meet
When reason remains silent
Once rules are suspended
We speak the truth

At dawn we remember them
sitting in the back seat
riding the motorcycle northward
summer days along the coastline
by the harbour bars and the beaches
behind the rocks overlooking the mainland
in the moments we cherish
and the memories we are grateful for

The white owl appears before you at twilight
Skyward you find meaning in shooting stars
Heed the crickets chirping into the night
and rest as Olympos fades in the distance

The shower of the Perseids
luminates the midnight sky
Do meteors ever dream
of alighting the night of another?

Moonrise of the new beginning
The dog patrols the perimeter
barking at the darkness

Moving shadows along the silver path
Travellers on a journey to nowhere
It is the moments that matter

Heed the voice of the mountain
Play the tune of the wind
and let the soul be anabaptised

In the land of the bee-eaters
the gatemaker's sweat
mixes with the soil

At the edge of Hera's cliff
the golden eagle
circles you thrice

Another day, another labour
Another moment, another wonder
All that is, is all that matters

I shall meet you there
at the countless greens
under the brown eagle's oak tree
between August's two full moons

Many embarked seaward
pursuing you in the dark

Many fought against waves
hoping to witness the world

Many drowned in murky waters
longing for a better tomorrow

Yet it is here I found you
in the ocean no boat can sail

From the white mountains
to the red villages
where Greek Strawberry Trees blossom
and potatoes grow

I greet the eagles 
and salute the frogs
while contemplating in awe
your everlasting beauty

Grief does not reside here

It starved on nights of few
It succumbed to loneliness
It drowned in cold showers

In its stead are stones, cement,
and the iron will that binds them

Carob trees amid fields of gold
How many hanged themselves here?

Strong winds blow from the South
Is it the shore fugitives never reached?

The beating Sun deepens the cracks
Some will break, I know, yet I proceed

Dark circles
under the full moon
Man, dog, and black snake
keeping vigil of another kind

Delirious in fear
You fathom the final tomorrow

On this windy night
I mark my territory
Alone with the owls

Where is the end, friend?
No rainbow led me beyond the horizon
Horizons; horizons everlasting

Paths converge only to diverge
You experience the blessing and the curse
and accept transfiguration

Leaving at dawn
you swear on your cold bones
to make it happen

Desert
Wrong inquiry

Achievements
False needs

Control
Powerful delusion

Lightness
Freedom from justification

Why?
Why me?  Why not?

Rest rainmaker
Time washes away
what water cannot

In shattering the mirror
you reduced yourself
to what which you despised
Emancipated you are
when mirrors don't draw comparisons

Walking on a path
Encountering fellow travellers
How far we go together is of no import
It suffices that we wandered
There are twists and turns
You go left, another continues straight
"Farewell, beloved"
Maybe there is a terminus
Or maybe---just maybe---there are more paths
Travellers on yet another adventure
Living the moment on an ever-lasting cycle
What is the purpose of all this?
Staring at the sunset
Amazed by the beauty of the cosmic oneness
We entertain thoughts that have no answers
Laugh, cry, curse the gods for your ignorance
You know that beauty is not rationalisable
Reduce the vastness to reason if you seek an empty shell
Why is beauty so readily recognisable yet undefinable?
It makes no sense
Travel my dear in search of nothing
Seek not the simulacrum of certainty
Dream of that one kiss that excites you
Paths converge and diverge
As memories fade and hopes arise
And remember the kind words of the sage:
"Why should it?  Why should it make sense to you?"

It all happens here
Walk where eagles fly
Cogitate the vastness
Appeal to your divine
Dance and sing along
The beyond eludes us

On this frigid peak
I forge my new beginnings
Calm yet resolute

Where to little cloud?
Which mountain is calling you?
Which storm awaits?

Alien in this shifting landscape
Lover of the sublime that wasn't

Rays of light
Adorn the violet sky
Your visage I discern
A smile amid the clouds
Who are you?

No sky my friend
No sea to sink the sorrows
No land to call your own

Mountain eagle
Peerless among those clouds
How is loneliness?

Tell me vagrant
Did you find the magic grove?
Do sorcerers cry?

Enchant me Siren
Guide my ship to your rocks
N'kiss me as I drown

Dejected sellsword
dying in some foreign land
for a cause I hated

Begone traveller
We wandered blithely
Now I must awaken

Process those hopes
To extract a drop of strength
Time favours no one

Avoid the sea
It takes you away
And so I did
Yet far away I am

Shadowy figure
The order in this darkness
A blossoming face

The elusive one
Obscure yet mysterious
A shadow in space

This light shall guide me
And I will thus approach you
As you fade away

To worry and fear
That I may forever lose
What I never had

Beware of large dogs, for they are strong
Beware of first looks, for they are wrong

Distance
mind renders bridgeable

Proximity
life makes improbable

Trains come
Trains go
Rides taken

Walk some
Walk slow
Years forsaken

Let me, stranger,
capture your attention

Help me, smartphone,
depict my personality

Live silently
Nobody cares

Reveal yourself
None watches

Speak freely
No-one listens

Blue or green
memento of a Summer gone

Black or grey
reminder of sweet delusion

Today's olives
taste unlike yesterday's
Years thus pass

Dear caring mind
you varied the routine
But I noticed