Listen up later

Later, later, later, much later, later.

There will be more, later

Later is getting later, later

Later will not accommodate the later

Because later doesn't come even when it's later later

And you know the ethilon later the cloaked later the stapled. 

Feats of later I feast on later fist of later

Mute later, no, no, not this, this is a later

Gift of later arriving later eeease of later is

Too to ease unhurriedly onto later

Junky does like some junk later

Mollify with later

Vein vain later

Wish I could help.

In Front Of The Art Museum

Last night

I dreamt you were peddling books

In front of the art museum

Used books — although —

In my estimation
A book

Generous with nuances between its covers

Can never be referred to

As being used

A book
Is not a woman used, used up

Courteous behind your makeshift stall

Suave towards the curious passersby

Negotiating

Artbooks, poetry, 

Psychology no longer in vogue,

Things to rid.

You had acquired new spectacles

Gold rimmed and stylish

To outfit your new outlook

Your new views

And you said to me: look, I am flying!

You flew onto the terracotta rooftops

Vaulting from crest to crest

Agile like a panther

My feet were rooted on the pavement

I was taking you in, every inch of you

You were

On top of the world

Too adroit to ever fall

So you thought

One

One by one words lifted off the page to stretch out in front of me

each word life, 
a heartbeat, 
and each heartbeat your whisper

In my dream they transformed into images.

reach, 
reach a bit farther
appearing effortless to keep

... as the canvas I once fell in love its beauty cut just enough 
I allowed the pain to remember the grace

Freely, as brushing your forehead 

soft 
weightless kissing 

With my fingertips

ITHACA

My Translation of C.P. Cavafy's Poem Ίθάκη,

A Gift for G, a Modern Day Odysseus.

As you begin your voyage to Ithaka,

hope that the road is long,

filled with adventure, filled with enlightenment.
The Laistrygonians and the Cyclopes,

the angry Poseidon, do not fear them;

you will never find them on your road

if your thoughts remain aloft, if your spirit and your body

brush against a finer emotion.
The Laistrygonians and the Cyclopes,

the angry Poseidon, you won’t encounter them

if you don’t carry them inside your soul

if your psyche does not conjure them in front of you.

Hope that the road is long.

Many the summer mornings
when with pleasure and glad anticipation
you sail into unfamiliar harbors

or stop at Phoenician markets
to acquire beautiful things:
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,

voluptuous notes of every type,

gather as many sensual aromas as you can;

may you visit many an Egyptian city,

there to learn and learn from scholars.

Always in your mind hold on to Ithaka.

The arrival there should be your purpose,

but don’t hurry your voyage in the least.

Best to continue it for many years,

and reach old age before mooring at the island,

wealthy with all you gained along the way,
and without expectation that Ithaka will give you riches.

Ithaka gave you the beautiful voyage.
Without her you would not have sought to wander.

There’s nothing more she has to give.

And, if you find her poor, Ithaka did not deceive you.
With all the wisdom you have gained, all the experience,
already you understand the meaning of an Ithaka.

   Τhe Poem in the Original Greek

Ιθάκη

Σα βγεις στον πηγαιμό για την Ιθάκη,
να εύχεσαι νάναι μακρύς ο δρόμος,
γεμάτος περιπέτειες, γεμάτος γνώσεις.
Τους Λαιστρυγόνας και τους Κύκλωπας,
τον θυμωμένο Ποσειδώνα μη φοβάσαι,
τέτοια στον δρόμο σου ποτέ σου δεν θα βρείς,
αν μέν' η σκέψις σου υψηλή, αν εκλεκτή
συγκίνησις το πνεύμα και το σώμα σου αγγίζει.
Τους Λαιστρυγόνας και τους Κύκλωπας,
τον άγριο Ποσειδώνα δεν θα συναντήσεις,
αν δεν τους κουβανείς μες στην ψυχή σου,
αν η ψυχή σου δεν τους στήνει εμπρός σου.

Να εύχεσαι νάναι μακρύς ο δρόμος.
Πολλά τα καλοκαιρινά πρωϊά να είναι
που με τι ευχαρίστησι, με τι χαρά
θα μπαίνεις σε λιμένας πρωτοειδωμένους·
να σταματήσεις σ' εμπορεία Φοινικικά,
και τες καλές πραγμάτειες ν' αποκτήσεις,
σεντέφια και κοράλλια, κεχριμπάρια κ' έβενους,
και ηδονικά μυρωδικά κάθε λογής,
όσο μπορείς πιο άφθονα ηδονικά μυρωδικά·
σε πόλεις Αιγυπτιακές πολλές να πας,
να μάθεις και να μάθεις απ' τους σπουδασμένους.

Πάντα στον νου σου νάχεις την Ιθάκη.
Το φθάσιμον εκεί είν' ο προορισμός σου.
Αλλά μη βιάζεις το ταξίδι διόλου.
Καλλίτερα χρόνια πολλά να διαρκέσει·
και γέρος πια ν' αράξεις στο νησί,
πλούσιος με όσα κέρδισες στον δρόμο,
μη προσδοκώντας πλούτη να σε δώσει η Ιθάκη.

Η Ιθάκη σ' έδωσε το ωραίο ταξίδι.
Χωρίς αυτήν δεν θάβγαινες στον δρόμο.
Αλλο δεν έχει να σε δώσει πια.

Κι αν πτωχική την βρεις, η Ιθάκη δεν σε γέλασε.
Ετσι σοφός που έγινες, με τόση πείρα,
ήδη θα το κατάλαβες η Ιθάκες τι σημαίνουν.

Κωνσταντίνος Π. Καβάφης (1911) 

Abide

Venus is brilliant in the evening sky

One, two, flying low to ground
June fireflies

Tomorrow will be very hot

The garden is mulched and watered

I have a garden

The rose bushes trimmed after their first flush

There was no mail I checked multiple times

I’ve been wearing my straw hat
It’s good protection from the sun

Sometimes I forget I have it on  

Wear it late into the night

Half-past midnight 
Going out to check on Venus 

The star is gone.

Where are you?

It hurts, it hurts beyond hurt

One pain with multiple names

Eventually I lost control

I drifted towards the shadows of life

You'll come back, they had warned

To further catalogue your arid days

Sometimes fog

Escapes from memory
To be distilled in dreams

     
     He is smiling — I am happy

     The earth is freshly tilled

     Upturned land fragrant

     A cypress overlooks

At daylight, the vivid colours bleach out

Now home is here

A hearth apart 

I exist

I abide