Poets corner.

[zan]

I am not mad on poems but I think I am beginning to be. There is not enough art on this forum so I would like to start the poem train rolling. You can write your own or give us whole or parts of poems that you like, or even the lyrics of a song.
Here is one I wrote the other night.



Before we left.
by zan

At best I can remember bullets

Fireflies travelling at the speed of light in the night

At best I can remember babutsa

Invisible needles that burn in your hands for days




At best I can remember waking up

Seeing a Greek doctor and my mother by my bed

I cannot remember the ice cream they gave me to soothe my tonsilless throat




At best I can remember gunfire

Single shot for Turkish

Machine gun for Greek



At best I long for the smell of dusty donkeys and fig trees

At best I can remember the smell of the hamam

I can remember the well-ordered and expensive possessions of our English neighbour that was never there

I long to sleep under the trees on an old iron bed in the middle of summer



I long for the Cyprus that was but never to be

[zan]

TURKISH-GREEK POEM


You become aware when you feel homesick
That you are brothers with the Greek;
Just look at a child of Istanbul
Listening to a Greek epic.

We've sworn at each other
In the free manner of our language.
We've drawn knife on blood
Yet a love lies hidden in us
For days of peace like these.

What if in our veins
It were the same blood that flows?
From the same air in our hearts
A crazy wind blows.

So generous like this rain
And warm like the sun.
The armfuls of goodness of spring
That surge from within.

Our hostility is like a drink
Distilled from the fruit of the climate
As harmful and as tasteful as any drink.
From this water from this taste have we sinned.

A blue magic between us
And this warm sea
And two peoples on its shores
Equals in beauty.

The golden age of the Aegean
Will revive through us
As with the fire of the future
The hearth of the past comes alive.

First a merry laughter comes to your ear
Then some Turkish with a Greek accent.
Nostalgic about the Bosporus
And you remember the Raki*.

It is when you are homesick
That you recall you are brothers with the Greek.


Bülent ECEVİT London 1947

[RudeGal]

Zan, I been thinking of the need for something like this - an inspiration corner to get our mind, bodies and soul focussed on the positive or at least express our angst more poetically. Below is not quiet a poem, but lyrics from Faithless' (one of my all time fave bands) track What About Love? It's universal socially conscious words also very apt for us in Cyprus...

What About Love, Faithless (No Roots album)
Come on (3x)

I know you so intimately
Anger and misery
The reason for my heart's fragility
How will it be if you simply set me free
Restore my ability, to hold my head high
To speak only truth where I used to lie
Goodbye to the enemy, it's been too long
Come on

What about love? (5x)

Come on

I know you so intimately
Your heady sensuality
The reason for my heart's fragility
How will it be if you simply come back to me
Restore my stability
Take your fill of me
Finally in step like the military
And just as strong, it's been so long
Come on

What about love? (5x)

[zan]

Great! This is the kind of stuff we want Rudegal. Lets get a bit of culture going.

[cypezokyli]

i am really bad in getting into lyrics without music
so if you can accept sth old , thats the best i can do for you :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aeo5aY6SryM

(music, lyrics and pictures excellent)

[Cyprus rules!]

[cypezokyli]

[Alexios]

Thank you zan, for the great idea and the great poem.

Here is a song, written by Yiannis Ritsos and sung by Nikos Ksilouris.It refers to how people can surpass their differences by learning to talk to each other and it was THE song played at intercommunal meetings usually arranged by AKEL and the CTP.....good old days....

And so here it is my friend,
that we have learned,
to talk to each other,simply and quietly.
We now understand.
We understand each other,
We need nothing more.

And I say,
tomorrow, we ll be even simpler.
We ll find those words that appeal the same,
to all hearts, to all lips,
and atlast look at each other and agree,
what is right and what is wrong.

This way the rest,
will just smile at us and say,
such songs we can write, hundreds every day,
but this is exactly what we want.

So brother we are singing,
not because we wish to differ.
We sing so we can unite,
unite the world.

[Alexios]

Thank you zan, for the great idea and the great poem.

Here is a song, written by Yiannis Ritsos and sung by Nikos Ksilouris.It refers to how people can surpass their differences by learning to talk to each other and it was THE song played at intercommunal meetings usually arranged by AKEL and the CTP.....good old days....

And so here it is my friend,
that we have learned,
to talk to each other,simply and quietly.
We now understand.
We understand each other,
We need nothing more.

And I say,
tomorrow, we ll be even simpler.
We ll find those words that appeal the same,
to all hearts, to all lips,
and atlast look at each other and agree,
what is right and what is wrong.

This way the rest,
will just smile at us and say,
such songs we can write, hundreds every day,
but this is exactly what we want.

So brother we are singing,
not because we wish to differ.
We sing so we can unite,
unite the world.

[Liza]

Here's a nice poem, well I think so anyway.

ETERNAL LOVE
Remember me
When the wind blows through the trees
The leaves fall to the ground
Flowers wilt and echoes fade
Acorns are cracked and eaten
The snow falls then melts away
Rain washes away the tears

And the sun dries the puddles up
Fires blazing in the sky
Even they someday must die
Spirits rise while bodies fall
Love is what shall save it all
Though seasons change
And days seem dreary
Night falls and eyes are weary
I watched you from within
It may seem life passes too fast
Remember me
And our love shall last

by Joseph D. Greenwood

By the way cypezokyli thats a great piece by
Guns & Roses!!

[zan]

Just a quick post before I have to go to work.

Thanks every one and keep it up. Fantastic lyrics by all. Cyp I am not a fan of Heavy music but I enjoyed it for its art sake anyway. For those that are not sure about poetry.......


Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood. -T. S. Eliot (1888 - 1965)

[brother]

TO LOVE IS NOTHING

TO BE LOVED IS SOMETHING

TO LOVE AND BE LOVED IS EVERYTHING


Thats my shot at a short poem, enjoy i hope.

[cypezokyli]

to love worths more than people tend to believe... and for sure its not nothing

[Leyla]

From one of my favourite songs:

I Bruise Easily
Natasha Bedingfield
-----------------------------
My skin is like a map, of where my heart has been
And I can't hide the marks, but it's not a negative thing
So I let down my guard, drop my defences, down by my clothes
I'm learning to fall, with no safety net, to cushion the blow

I bruise easily, so be gentle when you handle me
There's a mark you leave, like a love heart carved on a tree
I bruise easily, can't scratch the surface without moving me
Underneath I bruise easily, I bruise easily

I found your finger prints on a glass of wine
Do you know your leaving them all over this heart of mine too
If I never take this leap of faith I'll never know
So I'm learning to fall with no safety net to cushion the blow

I bruise easily, so be gentle when you handle me
There's a mark you leave, like a love heart carved on a tree
I bruise easily, can't scratch the surface without moving me
Underneath I bruise easily, I bruise easily

Anyone who, can touch you, can hurt you, or heal you
Anyone who, can reach you, can love you, or leave you

So please be gentle

I bruise easily, so be gentle when you handle me
There's a mark you leave, like a love heart carved on a tree
I bruise easily, can't scratch the surface without moving me
Underneath I bruise easily, I bruise easily...

[Bananiot]

I made a rough translation of the lyrics of a song written by Doros Georgiades some five years ago and sung by Michalis Hadjiyiannis. Its titled "Dirty Wall".

I was born in the free parts but I hear about our lost places,
a country which I never got to know
and it feels like a part of me is missing, and a refrain comes out of my heart like a sad mourning song,
friends and foes together sing the tune,
like cracked beads on the same string.
…………………………………………………………………………….......

I get confused when I listen to what they say about my enemies,
they say that they are a hapless people,
I sense the truth and this makes me dizzy,
a people, just like mine, betrayed.
………………………………………………………………………………...

The song becomes a grieving murmur and tries to reach his heart (the soldier across the divide)
and tell him about his brother he does not know
and I feel like calling him, friend and kardash.
………………………………………………………………………………...
Dirty wall
you mess up my life.
you mark me with green lines
Dirty wall
you pollute my soul and I get flooded with voices, bad voices …
………………………………………………………………………………..