First Images
Joyous like a child’s innocence
the north window stood up
proud defender of tradition
that encircled the perpetual now
humble door with lowered eyelids
toward the lonely ray of the first sun
and I asked
Can I enter, can I exit
what toward the west and where’s the goal?
Icon in the corner of ceiling and wall
like the sick man in hospital ward
candle mother always lighted
in honour of her wedding coronals
and I asked
Can I reach, can I grasp
what toward God and where’s the meaning?
Fire-pit by the corner, like a soldier
guarding our hearth and smoke
that choked our lungs like hunger did
our stomach when mother cooked our food
dressed in courage and awe
I gazed at the sunlight
in this earthen dwelling
I feasted on fear and hope
in this earthen hovel
I tasted the bread of bitterness
Hellenic Canadian Literature 