Still Waters

excerpt

… head and rested her chin in her hand. A twenty-two-year-old virgin.
Was that so bad? Moe spoke as if it was a disgrace, like being out of
step with the times, or being a prude. Tyne shook her head slowly
from side to side, got to her feet and carried her mug to the sink. I
love you, Moe, but I don’t agree with you. Sex outside of marriage is
wrong … and dangerous. I hope you take care of yourself, pal.
As she got into bed she thought again of Cam and his declaration
of love. What were his views on intimacy before marriage? Although
he had kissed her, he had never pressed her to go further. Would that
change if she agreed to marry him?
As drowsiness overcame her, Cam’s face lingered in her memory,
and she drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face. But it was Morley
she dreamed of.
At first she thought it was her alarm clock. Groggily, Tyne reached
one arm out of bed to pound it into submission. But the ringing kept
on, persistent, maddening. It couldn’t be morning yet, surely. When
she heard Moe’s door open, she snapped on her bedside lamp and
looked at the clock. The hands clearly pointed to a quarter past five.
Her alarm would not go off for another hour.
Moe was padding across the creaky hall floor into the living room,
muttering to herself. Tyne heard her pick up the telephone receiver
and speak into it. She threw her legs out of bed.
Am I on OR call? Did I forget?
She was reaching for her dressing gown when Moe appeared in the
doorway. She looked worried.
“It’s for you, Tyne.”
“The hospital?”
Moe hesitated for a moment. “No, it’s your Aunt Millie.”
Her housecoat flying open, Tyne raced to the telephone. “Aunt
Millie? What’s wrong?”
“Tyne, dear, I’m sorry to disturb you.” Millie’s voice was calm. “But
I had to reach you before you leave for work.”
“What … what is it?” Tyne gripped the receiver with her left hand,
and steadied herself by holding onto the back of the sofa with her right.
“It’s your father, Tyne. I’m afraid he’s had a stroke.”
“Oh no, no.” She was dimly aware that Moe had come up beside…

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763068

Swamped

excerpt

… likely, he’ll be on the buying side. We can’t know when he’ll go to the
other side, but it is what it is.”
“Of course,” Mario replied. “The market is for everybody after
all, for flippers, for serious investors, and for us. I shouldn’t complain
really. Well done Eteo, honestly, well done.”
With that, he got up, shook Eteo’s hand, and headed for the elevator
without another word, leaving Eteo absorbed in thoughts of
what his boss would do with the position he was buying.

---

When Eteocles and his family move to Athens to live in the suburb
of Peristeri, each Sunday afternoon they attend the local football
team’s games against other minor league teams from the city. It is a
very different experience for the boys to watch a football game from
the sidelines and cheer for their favored team, named Spitha, meaning
“spark.” Eteocles of course idolizes Spitha’s goalkeeper.
Today it is a gloomy, cloudy day, though very warm for September,
as they stand on the sidelines and wait for the game to start.
There are plenty of fans today as well as the usual hordes of vendors
offering the sweets and cheese pies the boys crave but never have
enough money to enjoy. The sun struggles to reveal itself between
the small gaps in the clouds that race across the top of the firmament,
driven by the strong gusts of wind. Their hurry doesn’t allow them
to pause and watch the football game down where Eteocles and Nicolas
are standing.
“Do you have any money?” Nicolas asks his brother, but Eteocles
only shrugs his shoulders. Eteocles usually saves a bit of his Sunday
allowance, but today he has spent it all on candy at the local store.
Soon after the game gets going, Eteocles’ favorite goalkeeper
makes a very good save, diving to grab the ball in a penalty kick. It is
a great reaction to a shot from very close distance and makes the local
fans cheer at the top of their lungs.
At that moment, Eteocles catches sight of a vendor who is selling
his favorite treats, pastry cones with cream on the top and cakes with
a soft, sweet cream between two layers of sponge that make him …

https://draft2digital.com/book/3562976

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08WP3LMPX

Neo-Hellene Poets, an Anthology of Modern Greek Poetry

ASTRAPOGIANNOS
Excerpt
The horrible vision of Astrapogiannos’ corpse
stutters and shivers in the hands of Lampetis.
The eyes of the dead man roll up, roll down,
three times before they vanish into darkness
and the night takes control of his forehead.
No other mark is left behind, but on his still-warm mouth,
like a moon-ray on the marble of his grave,
a mute smile, dead, shrouded like a corpse.
The white beard of the old fighter lies on the snow.
His warrior opponent returns his sword into its sheath,
takes up his bag with his rye bread
and hoists it to one shoulder.
On the other he puts the dead man’s corpse,
then paints his fingers with the red blood frothing from the earth,
and with the corpse across his shoulder
he plunges into the ravine and in his haste he vanishes in smoke.

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https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763513

Impulses

Lamentation
Lament for captive falcon
his strangled dream and deep buried
bulb of hyacinth whitewash
blinds you another pitch echoes
in the midst of the crowded agora
misery crushes peasants
hunger dons a
yellow garment of fear
affronting eyes of blessings
that dwell someplace in clouds
you tune your guitar to
whims of listening
myth of desertion bitten faith
duty holds you prisoner of logic

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https://www.amazon.com/dp/0981073565