The Bitter Words of the Earth

NIKOS DELIGIANNIS

ETERNAL MONUMENT

In the cloud, man was born,
And his feet touched the earth.
Since then, he walks with his head
In the ether—
Tall and ethereal,
He builds cities,
Carves roads,
Establishes laws,
Founding
Spiritual worlds.
He sings, loves,
Creates,
Breathing in the cloud,
Treading on the waves,
Moving forward,
Ascending
The stairs of heaven,
Testing
The strength of fire and darkness
As he emerges
From the gates of the universe.
So close, the stars
Bathe him in light,
Touching him tenderly
As he breathes
And inhales deeply
Their otherworldly fragrance.
With such height, man
Becomes the bridge
Between heaven and earth,
Each step he takes
Leaves a trace
Etched with
What he has done
And what he has neglected—
A vivid memory,
For imitation or avoidance,
An eternal monument
For all future generations to either worship or burn.

 

CROSSROADS

Nations are built
On deceptive foundations;
Worship their winds,
But keep your head high—
Never let their arrogance
Overtake you.
Above the homes
Of their eternal civilization,
Transient hope
And false dreams loom.

We pass into a new era;
The rampart holds the exit—
The great road of freedom
Overflowing
With ideas and resistances,
With banners and promises,
Waves of fire that swept their cities.
Those stars that spread their wings
To escape
Are imprisoned in the depths
Of their hypocrisy.

Do not flee in fear;
Love rules the seas.
Behind the frame of time,
Life finds its hearth.
The smile is finite
And willpower wears thin.
Like a castaway upon it,
People seize
Like a riddle
At every corner of our path.

 

GLOBAL IDEA

Everyone has a precious idea
Some have the freedom
To defend it
Others will fall fighting
To claim it
Behind the idea is the spirit
The universal light
That draws the magic of the universe
At its core is the hearth of time
The truth and its variations
That for centuries now
Have been turning the pages of life
The existence of all deeds
And great historical retrospections
That shape the becoming of humanity

All that scattered life or reaped death
A plea that unfolds
With parallel laments
Or is revived with hope
And childish smiles.
The breath of the world that gives rise
To the global idea.