1. ‘Gianni mou to mantili sou!..’

‘Giannis of mine, your handkerchief!..’**

 

My Giannis,

you’ve left me

behind,

like your unclean

handkerchief…

You’ve forgotten

your promise

to come back to me.

 

Oh, I am tossed around

by the winds

like wheat

in the wilderness

without you!

 

My Giannis,

the foreign Lands

have tied you down

as the sailors did to Ulysses

-in their ship’s mast-

to protect him

from the Sirens.

 

My Giannis,

you’ve laid down

your  holly memory,

you’ve denounced

your regal roots

and you declared freedom

against any ties

with your past.

 

My Giannis,

I cannot let you go…

I cannot let go

of our lost fatherland…

I cannot adopt

your loss to the Sirens

of the foreign land,

I cannot let the smoke

in the fire place

in our Ithaca

to be wiped out

by your fortunes

in the foreign lands…

 

Giannis mou*,

comeback

we have a lot

to be thankful for,

in our Ithaca.

 

You’ll see!

 

*’Giannis of mine, your handkerchief!..’ The alternative title of this poem,  serves as the translation of the title in English, and derives from a Greek demotic song, in the province of Epeiros, Greece).

**Giannis or Gianni mou : my John or John of mine.

***Mantili sou :  your  handkerchief.

………………………………………………………….

 

II.“Poulaki xeno, xenitemeno!’

‘Little, migrated bird!’

 

You’ve flown

long ago…

Since, I’ve lost myself

to paranoia!

 

I often wonder

how to keep

in touch with you

beloved xene**…

 

If I try send you

a present,

I worry

about bandits…

or scavengers…

in the wilderness…

 

If I send you sweets,

I worry they will turn

to sour waste!

 

Sent me a kiss

and pray

it will reach me…

 

I’ll count on it…

 

It is a reassurance

of your

everlasting love!

 

*Poulaki xeno, xenitemeno: Little migrant bird

**xene=migrant

………………………………………………………….

 

III. Serra… pyrrihios…*

I received your good news…

You’re coming home!

Your friends are preparing

a siesta for you

and our youth are practicing

the “Serra”… the “Pyrrihios”…

the dance… our dance.

 

Your  forefathers

will rise from Hades

to welcome you

and dance with you.

 

Your return to Pontos

of our hearts,

is as important as the recognition

of our lost Land in Anatolia,

and the straggle of Pontians,

with the rest of the Unans

against their aggressor!

 

*Serra or  pyrrihios: A Greek-Pontian Dance