Hope of Love Poems

Translated from Greek by John Sakkis and Angelos Sakkis

8/24/1997
Sunday

the week ends
the century ends
the millennium ends

cycles close
cycles open

travelers to galaxies
(microscales, macroscales)
make the moments unbearable
adolescence persists
in spite of all the confusion
in spite of all the insolence
outlet to old age
apprehension for the unavoidable

and the ones who have crossed the river and
...........speak from the side of darkness
and see specks
conflagrations, flames
recoiling, turbulence
chimeras, flesh, agonies, pleasures

neither consolation
............companionship
............hope
............homesickness
.

so many answers (platitudes)

the luxury of obedience
..................of disaster
perhaps lighthearted insouciance
and like
instructions iterated a thousand times
and the intention underestimates the discovery
it does not erase the road and the borders
and from the start
silence would be the easiest solution.

...................................................(Athens)
.

1 month
30 days
(30 x 24) 720 hours
43200’ minutes

....09/05/1997-10/05/1997
.

09/05/1997

wound
weaving
of hands and thoughts
surface
happy end
pride
insignificant
abyss
unbearable.
..............................(Athens)
.

09/06/1997

decision for the writing
enigma
acceptance
so many excuses
leave a slippery substrate
substrate.
............................(Athens)
.

09/08/1997

fall
the prescribed
difficulty and in one moment
the critical points are moved
risky references
now the diagnosis triumphs
so much time
greediness for nothing
disappearance of trust
“good morning”
“you are not in a position to…”
center and periphery
galaxy and beaches
without a safety net.
.................................(Athens)

NOTE. Demosthenes Agrafiotis was born on 28 December 1946 in Karpenissi of Evrytania, Greece. He is active in the fields of literature & the visual arts with books of poetry & exhibitions of photography, paintings, drawings, actions & installations, including a collaboration with Jerome Rothenberg, An Oracle for Delphi (Membrane Press, 1995). He has a special interest in the relation between art & new technologies, for multimedia or intermedia projects & also for performances. His essays are dedicated to analysis of different art forms as cultural phenomena. He has participated in various artistic activities, such as publications, small press initiatives, mail-art & alternative art projects. His magazine Clinamen (1980-90), co-published by Erato Publications in Athens (1991-1994), was active for over two decades as an amalgam of Greek poetry & art with new poetry & art from Europe & America. His second book to appear in English, Chinese Notebook, translated by John Sakkis & Angelos Sakkis, has just been published by Ugly Duckling Press, & he has continued over the years to be an active & influential figure in the European avant-garde. A complete translation of Now 1/3 is scheduled for early publication by BlazeVOX Books.