Savina Yannatou / Σαβίνα Γιαννάτου

In the middle of the full moon**
there lives a moon
untrodden little moon

I know it, the dawns of nothingness
darken my days.
I know it, the wizards are unleashing
their words.

O! Your small vexed
words . . .
O! Our weak birds. . .

Ah! And the light how it changed from
sunset to sunmoon
on you
Ah! And I will gather up the satin cloths. . .
Ah! And the shadows from the peacocks. . .
O! And what was yours. . .

(translation: Eva Johanos
*fengari, the word used here, also means “shining thing”
**selene, a word used for the full moon. . .)

The children down on the plains
do not talk about the weather
they only fall into the rivers
to grab the cross.

The children down on the plains
hunt a mad man
they strangle him with their hands
and burn him on the beach.

Come daughter of the moon,
daughter of the morning star.
Grant our children
a few caresses of heaven.

The children down the plains
hunt the bourgeois
chop off the heads
from enemies and believers.

The children down the plains
cut rosemary
and adorn the wells
for the young girls to fall into.

The children in the fields
mock the priest
they dress him in all the vestments
and take him to the market.

Come daughter of the moon,
come and light a fire.
Look how many young men
sleep into the night.

Children have no memories
they sell their ancestors
and what they’ll grab will not remain
because they straight away feel melancholy.

Τα παιδιά δεν έχουν μνήμη
τους προγόνους τους πουλούν
και ο,τι αρπάξουν δεν θα μείνει
γιατί ευθύς μελαγχολούν.

Now that spring is here
and the flowers are blooming
the nights intoxicate me
while the boys are whistling

And everyone I meet at night
greets me with “good evening”
but I have nothing to say
I just whistle with the wind

My love must be out there somewhere
but I don’t know who it is
My love must be out there somewhere
but I don’t know where

I ‘ll look for it in the cards
I ‘ll look for it in the stars
but when I find it, I swear
that I ‘ll dress up in white

Θα την γυρέψω στα χαρτιά,
θα την γυρέψω στ’ άστρα
μα σαν την βρω τ’ ορκίζομαι
πως θα ντυθώ μεσ’ τ’ άσπρα.

Take stone flowers from the sea
to decorate your hair,
take shells with the colors of the rainbow
to wear on your throat;
take corals to resemble your lips
only these things I offer you. . .

Today I will see you,
it has been twenty years since I saw you
and I called you Penelope;
from your eyes I will understand
If you love me, if you love me.

Today I will see you,
it has been twenty years since I saw you
and I called you Penelope;
from your eyes I will understand
If you love me, if you love me . . .

(translation: Eva Johanos)

Ach, everything had to happen the way it happened!
The hopes and the roses to wilt.
Like little boats, for the years to get away from me,
to leave and be extinguished.

Thus, as we separated in the evenings,
forever, for so many friends to be lost.
The place where I was growing up as a little child
for me to leave some evening.

Ach, everything had to happen the way it happened
The hopes and the roses to wilt.
Like little boats, for the years to get away from me,
to leave and be extinguished.

Everything had to happen. Only the night
should not have been as sweet now as it seems to be
for them to play there, the stars like eyes
and it is as if they are laughing at me.

(translation: Eva Johanos)

Like a bundle of roses
I saw that evening.
Some golden, slightest
fragrance in the streets.
And in the heart
a sudden kindness.
In the hands the coat,
in the reversed face, the moon.
Electrified by kisses
you would say of the atmosphere.
Thought, poems
a superfluous weight.

I have some broken wings.
I don’t even know why it came to us
that summer.
For what unexpected joy,
for which loves,
for what dreamed-of journey.

(translation: Eva Johanos)

Evga mana mou/ Come out, my mother (Greece)

Εβγα μάνα μου (Ελλάδα)