Three poems by Al.Baras translated into english
THE SORROWS OF THE DOCKYARD
A poem by Alexandros Baras (1906-1990)
*
An old ruin of a ship
I saw her leaning on her side
Her ribs were eaten by rust
Her rudder out of the water
Bitten, broken
By an unknown sea monster
*
Such a poor ruin of a ship…
And yet – who would have believed it?
From her tilting funnel it seemed
Some smoke was slowly rising
A wisp, thinly dispersing
(In the bowels of the wreck there was hidden
A final spark; and possibly, possibly
She was dreaming of voyages still to come
Perhaps she was falling asleep in hope
Of escaping the evening boredom of the docks…)
I looked at her, and I thought, despite myself
Of men also battered and bruised
Whom life has imperceptibly consumed
So many parallels came into my mind ...
*
Syntheses, Second book, 1938- Collection, 1933, Poetry 1983, Kedros Publishers
*
THE “CLEOPATRA”,THE “SEMIRAMIS” AND THE “THEODORA”
A poem by Alexandros Baras (1906-1990)
*
Every week,
On the stated day
Always at the same time
Three beautiful ships
The “Cleopatra”,the “Semiramis”and the “Theodora”
Leave the quay
At nine o’ clock, always
To Piraeus
To Brindisi and Trieste
Always.
*
Without zigging and zagging
Without hesitation
Or useless hooting
They turn their prows to the open sea
The “Cleopatra”,the “Semiramis”and the “Theodora”
Like well-bred people
Leaving a drawing room
Without tasteless
Needless handshakes
*
They leave the quay
At nine o’clock
Always to Piraeus
To Brindisi, to Trieste
Always –be it the weather hot or cold
*
They go
To smudge the blue
Of Aegean and Mediterranean
With their smoke
They go to spread stones of topaz
With their lights on the water
At night.
They set sail
Always with persons and luggage…
*
The “Cleopatra”,the “Semiramis”and the “Theodora”
For so many years now
Follow the same route
Arriving on the same day
Leaving at the same time.
*
They look like office clerks
Who have become chronometers
If one day they did not go through
Their office door
It might collapse.
*
(When the route is always the same
Be it the entire Mediterannean
or just from home to another place)
The “Cleopatra”, the “Semiramis” and the “Theodora”
For years and years
Feel the tyranny of boredom
Always following the same route
Always calling at the same ports.
*
If I were the captain,
yes – si j’étais roi !–
If I were the captain
Of the “Cleopatra”, of the “Semiramis”, of the “Theodora”
If I were the captain
With my four gold stripes
If I had been left on this same line
For so many years,
During a moonlit night
In the middle of the sea
I would climb to the topmost deck
And as the music played on
In the first class hall saloon
I, in my grand uniform
With the gold stripes
And my gold medals
Would trace a harmonious curve
Falling from the topmost deck
Into the water
With all my gold insignia
Like a shooting star
A hero of an unexplained death.
*
From “Poems 1933-1953”
Translated from the Greek by Lionel Scott and Lito Seizani
SMALL HANDS ON DOORS
A poem by Alexandros Baras (1906-1990)
At Phanari, in Smyrna, on Syros
You have always attracted my attention,
You small bronze hands for knocking
on the front doors of quiet houses.
Clenched,
those who shaped you made you hold
a tiny ball the size of a cherry plum.
Always polished, ever waiting.
The street is quiet.
Soon someone will appear
On the deserted seafront of an island
marbled in the moonlight,
Walking alone in the deep night,
I with my ears pricked was trying
to listen to God.
*
The doors of the houses were shut,
angels of silence were sitting on the thresholds.
From “Poems 1933-1953”
Translated from the Greek by Lionel Scott and Lito Seizani