Dinos Christianopoulos
Interval of Joy
just as I was saying I would stop writing about love and lust
and write something instead about the unhappiness of my neighbor
I met you and fell into complete confusion
and all my resolutions went up in air
now see where I sit and write songs again
burning for your somewhat green eyes
thirsting for your saliva
recollecting our one love-walk in the country
when the mosquitoes bit us in confused bewilderment
at this incomparable devotion of ours
and the thorns pierced our bodies
astonished at the extent of our indifference
it was an interval of joy
may the unhappy forgive me for it
I have not yet suffered enough
for the pain of my neighbor to touch me
Greek; trans. Kimon Friar
Dinos Christianopoulos, Greek, trans. Kimon Friar, The Poetry of Dinos
Christianopoulos: An Introduction, Pella Publishing, 1979.