Poetic Movements

In their cracky voices the seagulls talked – they truly did talk – about things that parted continents and seas. The crowd moved in a mass dance a choreography of nothing momentarily interrupted by streetcars. And the waters howled underneath they howled like a heartbeat soon (any moment now) to cease. Souls passed me by; some lost some wandering and some mine. Jan. 2024, Istanbul.

  Cold shimmer – winter takes hold of your hands like an old, devious friend. Your hands are frozen, you wake up. Dreams, reflections in the subconscious twice-mirrored objects at midnight past. Nothing lasts but time. Shadow selves take over trying their luck. Hollow are the stories to be told, hollower the bodies hollower their moves hollower the looks of what is to be/come. You scream at midnight past, yet sound has died. November 2023, Athens. Photograph: moon meets Jupiter in the night sky; 1 Oct. 2023, Samothraki.

In the clear light I breathe you in. You are gone and you are here. You are carried in the leaves even when flowers die; you are carried in the years. You let me go and I drag you back in the moments of the years. You are gone and then I breathe then I move then I think; you are the last journey and the first one anew. We are here. 3 November 2023, Athens. Photograph: Moves of the light; Kipoi, Samothraki, Oct. 2023.

  The covered market not busy yet not busy ever. The shops that are closed today and tomorrow. Outside, a jam stretching the meaning of existence. Distance - or the day shall not pass. Distance - or who otherwise breathes? The skyline crisp and clear but for the planes passing above our heads. Look, I can touch this or maybe that one. Look now, what happens with the clouds? I catch one and feels like a breath. Look - what happens after that? October 2023, Thessaloniki.

  Warm earth homecoming warm body a storm beyond the sea warm hands – your hands are warm at summer’s end. Your hands are warm amidst the ashfall your hands are real. Warm earth cold water  – the goats descend . Sept. – Oct. 2023, Kipoi, Samothraki.

  Στα φύλλα των πλατάνων που χάνουν τη δύναμή τους και πέφτουν πρώιμα, στα φύλλα το φθινόπωρο που βιάζεται. Στα κύματα που αδιάκοπα χτυπούν το σώμα τους ενάντια σ’ αυτό της γης, στα κύματα οι μέρες που χάνονται. Στα μαλλιά μου που ασπρίζουν - και στα δικά σου – το χιόνι που θα πέσει, το χιόνι που θα λιώσει στην θάλασσα. Τα βράδια του καλοκαιριού αεροπλάνα διασχίζουν τον ουρανό μ’ ιλιγγιώδεις ταχύτητες κι εγώ τα καταλαβαίνω · καταλαβαίνω τον χρόνο που κυνηγούν τους αστερισμούς που έχουν να προσπεράσουν τα σύνορα που οφείλουν να διαγράψουν – τα καταλαβαίνω. Ο άντρας που στέκεται εδώ και ώρα στην ακροθαλασσιά έχει ξεχάσει να κινηθεί, και το βλέπω τώρα πως τα πέλματά του τα έχουν καταπιεί τα βότσαλα, οι αστράγαλοί του δεν ξεχωρίζουν στην σκοτεινή στεριά, και τώρα που το φως έχει επιτέλους χαθεί φαίνονται όλα πεντακάθαρα – το κάθε χιλιοστό που η θάλασσα τον τραβά μέσα της, το κάθε μικρό κύμα στ’ ανοιχτά που δι...

 Samothraki, a remote island in Northeastern Greece... 3 days without electricity as a result of the supply station in the mainland across having been damaged by the fires blazing across the East Macedonia &Thrace Region  (now known to be the largest wildfire recorded on European soil in years). There used to be an independent electric station on the island which 20 years ago was closed down on the grounds of the island's population reducing. Since then, the electric supply on the island has deteriorated. Evidently, it is harder for people to remain or move to an island were electricity is not a given. See how the circle goes?  3 days with restricted access to telecommunications due to the local antennas being electrically powered. On the first day, large parts of the island had no access to water due to water pumps being electrically powered. On the first day, and while Samothraki had been for days on Amber alert for fire hazard, the sole ferry connecting t...

Lights off all the sudden eyes on the night sky its light-punctuated thick blanket the bright marks seeming to stand still and different bright spots moving in elusive speed. A blackout all it takes words spring from mouths softlier than before thoughts formulate in minds with intentions ever more so kind. All souls now celebrated on the desolate stranded shore echoed in the sound of the last night flight’s take-off (somewhere afar the sea, somewhere higher than the mountains). A whisper in the night before lights are restored . 05 August 2023, Samothraki.

Incapacitated words as spoken hit fully unequipped against the hard surfaces of objects across the room. They roll each surface until they meet the floor, or are forced by their velocity to an abrupt, deep fall. Some – very few – cling on to sharp edge s where accidentally they made contact and attempt to stand breathless and silent expecting this to postpone their demise. But the edges are cutting so the words become torn apart as they hang helplessly above the ground and letter by letter they lose the fabric of their sense. Poor words, the poorest words ever spoken, result demolished on the floor their letters illogically spread across space, their meaning irreparably deranged. Athens, July 2023. Photograph: words colliding against each other; Dundee West End, Scotland, June 2022.