Zante's Reed

I am love
and you are the waters of my love
which flows into the basin of your eyes
so that I can watch it
through the stork feathers
of your breasts
and the banana leaves
of your hips!


I am a mountain of Morea
proudly resistant
to the assaults of time
and you are a golden olive tree
bent over the Achaian Sea!


I am the immense firmament
of the Peloponnese
and you are a single lemon tree
on the life-giving plain of Elide!


I am the Libeccio
the burning wind
that brings the animal breath of Libya
to Europe
in summer
and you are Zante's reed
that bends to the bite
of my passionate kisses!


You are a cypress
on Mount Cyllene
and I am the snow
that comes in winter
to love that cypress!


I am the sky of a summer night
ploughed by powerful stars
and you are the constellation of the Dog
that rules my fire
and spreads it out
over the astonishing exalted Oneness
with which your heart fills me
vast as the ancient kingdom
of Zakynthos
where you are the queen
covered in pearls
and the Mother Goddess!

FROM THE COLLECTION OF POEMS “ZANTE”

PUBLISHED BY “ENCRES VIVES”.
DECEMBER 2006.

TRANSLATED BY NORTON HODGES
ON 18.01.07.