The Sun and Time
1967
On the 21st of August I was captured at Haidari. On the fourth floor at Bouboulinas Street prison, cell number 4, I waited for torture and death. On the fourth of September they brought me paper and pencil. Then I wrote 32 poems. I had spent the previous nights sleepless with my back pressed to the wall waiting from moment to moment for them to take me for torture or execution. My whole existence was marked by the expectation of certain death. As time flowed patiently by and I suffered, I saw clearly in my head the image of the final moment. The morning sky was a deep blue. The air was transparent, crystal clear. What would I call out at this final moment? This thought tormented me…
This torment was followed by an inexplicable euphoria. I was happy! In the end death isn’t so terrible. Perhaps it’s beautiful, I say to the guard…
I’m not a poet, but when the verses began to hammer at my brain I felt how words could be dressed in blood. How they could liberate me. I am an artist. I defeat time and death…
I am Time.
This is why ‘The Sun and Time’ became the cycle of Life and Death. In the end they became a victorious cycle. A bitter victory, because the spirit of the poet suffers for all people. Even those who hate him and torture him,
Xreow, B
i
Greetings Acropolis
Tourkolimano, Voukourestiou Street!
The polestar aims its light
at the still point of the world.
Athens the First
buried deep in the ages
the spear-fishers see you
from behind their masks.
Galleys, private cars, secret brothels
the “Security” center of the world.
The polestar revolves steadily,
the cookhouse chimney
aims its smoke
at the still point of the firmament.
The Pleiades, Aphrodite,
Dina, Soula, Evi, Irine.
Five million years of light.
A constant line traverses
five billion galaxies
five meters
only five meters
from my cell.
ii
Time dissolves
in the moment.
The merest trifle becomes
the greatest of tyrants;
it torments flowering wounds
full of smiles and promises
and something else; it’s that other
we live each moment
thinking that we live another.
But the other doesn’t exist.
We are ourselves, our Fate
who looks sidelong at us,
the Sphinx who forgot the riddle.
We have nothing more to solve:
there’s no riddle,
no escape from the circle,
the fiery circle
of Sun and Death.
iii
Sun, I will look you in the eye
till my vision dries up
fills with craters of dust
and becomes a moon without space
without motion, rhythm
a falling star extinguished eons ago
condemned to listen to the cries of men
to breathe the stench of dead flowers,
Man is dead! Long live Man!
iv
In the dry soil of my heart
a cactus has grown.
It’s been more than twenty centuries
since I dreamed of jasmine
my hair smelled of jasmine
my voice had taken something
of its delicate perfume
my clothes smelled of jasmine
my life had taken something
of its delicate perfume.
But the cactus is not bad;
it simply doesn’t know it and is afraid.
Sadly I look at the cactus;
where did all those centuries go?
I will live as many again
listening to the roots
as they grow steadily
in the dry soil of my heart.
v
Between the sun and me
there is nothing
but the difference of time.
I rise and set
I exist and cease to be
they see me
though I cannot see myself.
vi
When time stands still
my cell fills with months
months, days, hours, moments
tenths of a second
tenths of a second
tenths of a second
a step before chaos
there is chaos
a step before chaos
I exist a little before, a little after
I exist in chaos
I don’t exist.
vii
The cells breathe
the cells that are high up
the cells that are down low
the rain unites us
the sun was ashamed to appear, Nikos.
Yorgos, we’re holding on by a flower
viii
The Sun bites me
it has no teeth
false
false promises on the wall
white color on white
with shadows
without shadows
only I remain motionless
immovable in the light and white
untransferable I remain high
above the mosaic that is suspended
my thought spins towards the Earth
the parachute didn’t open
the Earth goes on, galloping towards my thought
the Sun is constricted
it reveals the void
three voids collide
my Thought, the Earth and the Sun.
ix
Under the earth it propagates
the Law, of the Law, oh Law!
when it wears a helmet it smokes
filtered cigarettes
when it wears pajamas
when it wears silk pajamas
it doesn’t smoke, it doesn’t smoke
the villages, the forests, the paddyfields burn
the mothers don’t smoke
the soldiers smoke before they go to sleep
they sleep heavily, for two centuries
I smoke before I die
I always smoke before I die
strong Lamia tobacco, fragrant Xanthi
a sweet smell just before the end
the end has a sweet smell
fragrant Xanthi, strong Lamia.
x
I am the teeth of the sun
I am what bites me
I am what wants
what doesn’t want is me
when you remember me I am
when you forget me I am
when I exist I am myself
when I don’t exist I am you
but you are me.
xi
The Aegean has risen and is looking at me
“Is that you?” it asks me.
“Yes,” I answer, “It is me and someone else too.
Don’t you recognize him?”
“No,” he says.
“You don’t recognize him but this someone is you.”
The Aegean lay down,
the sun coughed.
I remained alone
completely alone.
xii
Not completely alone
I don’t want you
I want you so much
that’s why I don’t want you
the plane trees, the cold streams
myrtle, myrtle, myrtle
a symbol, an idea, a faith
I want you so much
dandelion covered in earth
myrtle myrtle myrtle
that’s why I want you
because without you
I cannot be alone
cannot be
completely alone.
xiii
Shoot time
kill time
time beyond the law
I want to set my dead body up
in Aiolos Street
to sell time at a discount
in Monastiraki
it’s fresh
we hunted it yesterday
we killed it yesterday
yesterday, yesterday, yesterday
from yesterday to today
which means that we didn’t do good work.
xiv
You will not go
beyond this circle
you will stay inside it.
You, the Sun and Time
your orbit is regulated by winding
at night you wind it up
by day you unwind it
curtsey, smile, cry, curse
everything regulated
by the manufacturer.
xv
Whoever you are
ocean, mountain, woman, bull
if you are human
tree, song, toll, death
if you are human
if you are human
release the handbrake gently
start the descent in second gear
it will cost you less
bus, truck, Citroen DKW
Margarita, Myrtle, Rose-water, Theodorakis
whoever you are
it will cost you less
old memory
old as today
as tomorrow
as tomorrow
as never
if you are human
whoever you are.
xvi.
Sun the First, Athens the First
Mikis the millionth
a hundred thousand follow
and another hundred
and another hundred thousand innocents
and so on and so forth
until the end of the world.
xvii
Never never never
will I be able to unfurl all the flags
green, red, yellow, blue, mauve, azure.
Never never never
will I be able to smell all the perfumes
green, red, yellow, blue, mauve, azure.
Never never never
will I be able to touch all the hearts
sail all the seas.
Never never never
will I know the one
and only flag
you
Tania.
xviii
When I lay down on the sand
the bathers jumped into the sea
when I dived into the sea
the bathers got out of the water.
when I drowned
the bathers went home
and when I rose from the dead
it was already too late
the bathers had got into their cars.
xix.
You are my image
your hand is my hand
when I squeeze it, it is squeezed
when I raise it, it is raised
only these bars are mine
and what is reflected is yours
(the sense of private ownership should be stressed)
mine yours
the prison bars
but ours
the eyes
the lips
the hands.
xx.
In the paradise gardens of my skull
a yellow sun travels on the wings of time.
Birds with wooden wings follow
angels lead the way on jets
a grand procession
above the banana trees, eucalyptus and pines
that cover the left side of my brain;
on the right, nymphs and heavenly whores.
Hidden beneath the jasmine
red lizards listen to the waterfalls
that disappear into the sewers of my spinal chord
where the Earth begins
and the Universe ends.
Suddenly the grand procession stands still
six in the afternoon
exactly six o’clock
the procession Time, the Sun stops -
only the birds fly on
beating their wooden wings
and even the jets lament like angels.
xxi.
I have a private labyrinth
a private twelve horsepower Minotaur.
I seek a second-hand Theseus at a good price
I will exchange a Japanese radio
for Ariadne if possible a widow
under forty,
income above five figures,
time limit
a tenth of a second
in a tenth of a second
I will be dead.
xxii.
Elytis Gatsos the great Seferis
Tsarouchis Minotis Hadzidakis
Vera Dora Jeni,
cinema theater music
and so many others
the poets the poets
and so many others
and you and you and you
the friend the enemy the foe the rival
I slept peacefully
the bill has been paid
the friend who is paying
has money.
xxiii.
Celestial streams
underground torrents
descend babbling
Street of Dreams, Omonia
Silva
S-i-l-v-a
Haidari, Philothei
their waters blond
two blond mattresses
two green mattresses
in the middle
am I, a red locust
wings harmonicas
sounds of water
lizards moons
dive, sink, drown
bars
bars
bars
Silva.
xxiv.
When you shout
I sleep
when you are in pain
I yawn
when you toss and turn
I scratch myself
September
date, the sixteenth
of Creation
Dionysos!
xxv.
On the fourth floor
your Mama sleeps
Elena
her dreams, heavenly music
her dreams
Pepino di Capri
beyond the sea
don’t wake her.
xxvi.
The sun’s dentures threaten me
the bars of Time protect me
Yiannis Jason Vyron
Takis Alekos
hoist the lemons and oranges
high on the masts
raise
the sandals in the sand
voices Nivea cream
racetrack solitaire Nescafé
they hold precious flags made of cheap material.
xxvii
September sixth
eleven o’clock in the morning
now the birds
are bathing in the river
the North winds are creaking in the firs
the Turk wounded you at Bizani.
Now you sit and watch me
you drink coffee
you drip poison
love love
the Sun scratches
the grape
eleven o’clock in the morning.
xxviii.
Suleiman the Magnificent
Constantine Palaeologos
stop shouting
smuggler thief pimp
vocal chords
Andreas Ilias Anthi
animal larynx human larynx
St. Sophia barbarian hordes the liquid fire
the Old Man of Morea a worm
I stumble at every step
on the left beasts from Borneo
on the right flames of Nagasaki
ahead chimneys of Buchenwald
behind Makryiannis’ cell
above below above below
east west
hordes of saints hordes of demons
hordes of saints hordes of generals
I am dandelion sown in a crater
good-bye Sun good-bye Sun good-bye Sun
good-bye Light
good night.
xxix.
East of Sirius
the blond rains pass by
they hold yellow umbrellas
they wear green sunglasses
mini-skirts
the blond rains of September
they skirt Mars
next Wednesday
they enter the orbit of Earth
Hanoi, Washington, Moscow
the Sinai desert
Athens, Tositsa Street
west of Chios
east of Corinth
inside outside
a deeply carved pine
miniskirts
green sunglasses
they hold yellow umbrellas
the early blond rains
east of Sirius
west of my cell,
of September.
xxx.
When the rocks of Meteora dance the syrtaki
I recognize you my country
when Achelous stays out all night at the taverns
when the White Mountains swim the crawl
when the Aegean plays the lottery
when the Roumeliots build their tsamikos
when the Cretan Sea rapes Milos
and when I write crude verses
then I recognize you
I recognize you my country.
xxxi
The nine Muses are staying near me
a corridor separates us
two doors four guards
Dora Maria Takis
Anna Tonia Rousos
perhaps they know better
particulars numbers addresses
techniques schools museums
the nine Muses stay close to the Museums
Music stays close to the Museums
Music Muses Museums
at any rate
mentalities techniques are tested
rain dust sun laugh
a vast conservatory
pianos solfège singing
the nine Muses wash themselves
comb their hair lie down
they knock so that someone will open the door
Pindar Aeschylus Mozart Chopin
the guards accompany them one at a time to the toilet.
xxxii.
Violet city
send me your hand to caress my hair
send me your voice to put my dreams to sleep
show me your face
so I can see my own stature
my nobility
my noble mistress
from Oedipus to Androutsos
no-one has loved you
as I do
The Sun and Time
On the 21st of August I was captured at Haidari. On the fourth floor at Bouboulinas Street prison, cell number 4, I waited for torture and death. On the fourth of September they brought me paper and pencil. Then I wrote 32 poems. I had spent the previous nights sleepless with my back pressed to the wall waiting from moment to moment for them to take me for torture or execution. My whole existence was marked by the expectation of certain death. As time flowed patiently by and I suffered, I saw clearly in my head the image of the final moment. The morning sky was a deep blue. The air was transparent, crystal clear. What would I call out at this final moment? This thought tormented me…
This torment was followed by an inexplicable euphoria. I was happy! In the end death isn’t so terrible. Perhaps it’s beautiful, I say to the guard…
I’m not a poet, but when the verses began to hammer at my brain I felt how words could be dressed in blood. How they could liberate me. I am an artist. I defeat time and death…
I am Time.
This is why ‘The Sun and Time’ became the cycle of Life and Death. In the end they became a victorious cycle. A bitter victory, because the spirit of the poet suffers for all people. Even those who hate him and torture him,
Xreow, B
i
Greetings Acropolis
Tourkolimano, Voukourestiou Street!
The polestar aims its light
at the still point of the world.
Athens the First
buried deep in the ages
the spear-fishers see you
from behind their masks.
Galleys, private cars, secret brothels
the “Security” center of the world.
The polestar revolves steadily,
the cookhouse chimney
aims its smoke
at the still point of the firmament.
The Pleiades, Aphrodite,
Dina, Soula, Evi, Irine.
Five million years of light.
A constant line traverses
five billion galaxies
five meters
only five meters
from my cell.
ii
Time dissolves
in the moment.
The merest trifle becomes
the greatest of tyrants;
it torments flowering wounds
full of smiles and promises
and something else; it’s that other
we live each moment
thinking that we live another.
But the other doesn’t exist.
We are ourselves, our Fate
who looks sidelong at us,
the Sphinx who forgot the riddle.
We have nothing more to solve:
there’s no riddle,
no escape from the circle,
the fiery circle
of Sun and Death.
iii
Sun, I will look you in the eye
till my vision dries up
fills with craters of dust
and becomes a moon without space
without motion, rhythm
a falling star extinguished eons ago
condemned to listen to the cries of men
to breathe the stench of dead flowers,
Man is dead! Long live Man!
iv
In the dry soil of my heart
a cactus has grown.
It’s been more than twenty centuries
since I dreamed of jasmine
my hair smelled of jasmine
my voice had taken something
of its delicate perfume
my clothes smelled of jasmine
my life had taken something
of its delicate perfume.
But the cactus is not bad;
it simply doesn’t know it and is afraid.
Sadly I look at the cactus;
where did all those centuries go?
I will live as many again
listening to the roots
as they grow steadily
in the dry soil of my heart.
v
Between the sun and me
there is nothing
but the difference of time.
I rise and set
I exist and cease to be
they see me
though I cannot see myself.
vi
When time stands still
my cell fills with months
months, days, hours, moments
tenths of a second
tenths of a second
tenths of a second
a step before chaos
there is chaos
a step before chaos
I exist a little before, a little after
I exist in chaos
I don’t exist.
vii
The cells breathe
the cells that are high up
the cells that are down low
the rain unites us
the sun was ashamed to appear, Nikos.
Yorgos, we’re holding on by a flower
viii
The Sun bites me
it has no teeth
false
false promises on the wall
white color on white
with shadows
without shadows
only I remain motionless
immovable in the light and white
untransferable I remain high
above the mosaic that is suspended
my thought spins towards the Earth
the parachute didn’t open
the Earth goes on, galloping towards my thought
the Sun is constricted
it reveals the void
three voids collide
my Thought, the Earth and the Sun.
ix
Under the earth it propagates
the Law, of the Law, oh Law!
when it wears a helmet it smokes
filtered cigarettes
when it wears pajamas
when it wears silk pajamas
it doesn’t smoke, it doesn’t smoke
the villages, the forests, the paddyfields burn
the mothers don’t smoke
the soldiers smoke before they go to sleep
they sleep heavily, for two centuries
I smoke before I die
I always smoke before I die
strong Lamia tobacco, fragrant Xanthi
a sweet smell just before the end
the end has a sweet smell
fragrant Xanthi, strong Lamia.
x
I am the teeth of the sun
I am what bites me
I am what wants
what doesn’t want is me
when you remember me I am
when you forget me I am
when I exist I am myself
when I don’t exist I am you
but you are me.
xi
The Aegean has risen and is looking at me
“Is that you?” it asks me.
“Yes,” I answer, “It is me and someone else too.
Don’t you recognize him?”
“No,” he says.
“You don’t recognize him but this someone is you.”
The Aegean lay down,
the sun coughed.
I remained alone
completely alone.
xii
Not completely alone
I don’t want you
I want you so much
that’s why I don’t want you
the plane trees, the cold streams
myrtle, myrtle, myrtle
a symbol, an idea, a faith
I want you so much
dandelion covered in earth
myrtle myrtle myrtle
that’s why I want you
because without you
I cannot be alone
cannot be
completely alone.
xiii
Shoot time
kill time
time beyond the law
I want to set my dead body up
in Aiolos Street
to sell time at a discount
in Monastiraki
it’s fresh
we hunted it yesterday
we killed it yesterday
yesterday, yesterday, yesterday
from yesterday to today
which means that we didn’t do good work.
xiv
You will not go
beyond this circle
you will stay inside it.
You, the Sun and Time
your orbit is regulated by winding
at night you wind it up
by day you unwind it
curtsey, smile, cry, curse
everything regulated
by the manufacturer.
xv
Whoever you are
ocean, mountain, woman, bull
if you are human
tree, song, toll, death
if you are human
if you are human
release the handbrake gently
start the descent in second gear
it will cost you less
bus, truck, Citroen DKW
Margarita, Myrtle, Rose-water, Theodorakis
whoever you are
it will cost you less
old memory
old as today
as tomorrow
as tomorrow
as never
if you are human
whoever you are.
xvi.
Sun the First, Athens the First
Mikis the millionth
a hundred thousand follow
and another hundred
and another hundred thousand innocents
and so on and so forth
until the end of the world.
xvii
Never never never
will I be able to unfurl all the flags
green, red, yellow, blue, mauve, azure.
Never never never
will I be able to smell all the perfumes
green, red, yellow, blue, mauve, azure.
Never never never
will I be able to touch all the hearts
sail all the seas.
Never never never
will I know the one
and only flag
you
Tania.
xviii
When I lay down on the sand
the bathers jumped into the sea
when I dived into the sea
the bathers got out of the water.
when I drowned
the bathers went home
and when I rose from the dead
it was already too late
the bathers had got into their cars.
xix.
You are my image
your hand is my hand
when I squeeze it, it is squeezed
when I raise it, it is raised
only these bars are mine
and what is reflected is yours
(the sense of private ownership should be stressed)
mine yours
the prison bars
but ours
the eyes
the lips
the hands.
xx.
In the paradise gardens of my skull
a yellow sun travels on the wings of time.
Birds with wooden wings follow
angels lead the way on jets
a grand procession
above the banana trees, eucalyptus and pines
that cover the left side of my brain;
on the right, nymphs and heavenly whores.
Hidden beneath the jasmine
red lizards listen to the waterfalls
that disappear into the sewers of my spinal chord
where the Earth begins
and the Universe ends.
Suddenly the grand procession stands still
six in the afternoon
exactly six o’clock
the procession Time, the Sun stops -
only the birds fly on
beating their wooden wings
and even the jets lament like angels.
xxi.
I have a private labyrinth
a private twelve horsepower Minotaur.
I seek a second-hand Theseus at a good price
I will exchange a Japanese radio
for Ariadne if possible a widow
under forty,
income above five figures,
time limit
a tenth of a second
in a tenth of a second
I will be dead.
xxii.
Elytis Gatsos the great Seferis
Tsarouchis Minotis Hadzidakis
Vera Dora Jeni,
cinema theater music
and so many others
the poets the poets
and so many others
and you and you and you
the friend the enemy the foe the rival
I slept peacefully
the bill has been paid
the friend who is paying
has money.
xxiii.
Celestial streams
underground torrents
descend babbling
Street of Dreams, Omonia
Silva
S-i-l-v-a
Haidari, Philothei
their waters blond
two blond mattresses
two green mattresses
in the middle
am I, a red locust
wings harmonicas
sounds of water
lizards moons
dive, sink, drown
bars
bars
bars
Silva.
xxiv.
When you shout
I sleep
when you are in pain
I yawn
when you toss and turn
I scratch myself
September
date, the sixteenth
of Creation
Dionysos!
xxv.
On the fourth floor
your Mama sleeps
Elena
her dreams, heavenly music
her dreams
Pepino di Capri
beyond the sea
don’t wake her.
xxvi.
The sun’s dentures threaten me
the bars of Time protect me
Yiannis Jason Vyron
Takis Alekos
hoist the lemons and oranges
high on the masts
raise
the sandals in the sand
voices Nivea cream
racetrack solitaire Nescafé
they hold precious flags made of cheap material.
xxvii
September sixth
eleven o’clock in the morning
now the birds
are bathing in the river
the North winds are creaking in the firs
the Turk wounded you at Bizani.
Now you sit and watch me
you drink coffee
you drip poison
love love
the Sun scratches
the grape
eleven o’clock in the morning.
xxviii.
Suleiman the Magnificent
Constantine Palaeologos
stop shouting
smuggler thief pimp
vocal chords
Andreas Ilias Anthi
animal larynx human larynx
St. Sophia barbarian hordes the liquid fire
the Old Man of Morea a worm
I stumble at every step
on the left beasts from Borneo
on the right flames of Nagasaki
ahead chimneys of Buchenwald
behind Makryiannis’ cell
above below above below
east west
hordes of saints hordes of demons
hordes of saints hordes of generals
I am dandelion sown in a crater
good-bye Sun good-bye Sun good-bye Sun
good-bye Light
good night.
xxix.
East of Sirius
the blond rains pass by
they hold yellow umbrellas
they wear green sunglasses
mini-skirts
the blond rains of September
they skirt Mars
next Wednesday
they enter the orbit of Earth
Hanoi, Washington, Moscow
the Sinai desert
Athens, Tositsa Street
west of Chios
east of Corinth
inside outside
a deeply carved pine
miniskirts
green sunglasses
they hold yellow umbrellas
the early blond rains
east of Sirius
west of my cell,
of September.
xxx.
When the rocks of Meteora dance the syrtaki
I recognize you my country
when Achelous stays out all night at the taverns
when the White Mountains swim the crawl
when the Aegean plays the lottery
when the Roumeliots build their tsamikos
when the Cretan Sea rapes Milos
and when I write crude verses
then I recognize you
I recognize you my country.
xxxi
The nine Muses are staying near me
a corridor separates us
two doors four guards
Dora Maria Takis
Anna Tonia Rousos
perhaps they know better
particulars numbers addresses
techniques schools museums
the nine Muses stay close to the Museums
Music stays close to the Museums
Music Muses Museums
at any rate
mentalities techniques are tested
rain dust sun laugh
a vast conservatory
pianos solfège singing
the nine Muses wash themselves
comb their hair lie down
they knock so that someone will open the door
Pindar Aeschylus Mozart Chopin
the guards accompany them one at a time to the toilet.
xxxii.
Violet city
send me your hand to caress my hair
send me your voice to put my dreams to sleep
show me your face
so I can see my own stature
my nobility
my noble mistress
from Oedipus to Androutsos
no-one has loved you
as I do
