Poros Minor
At night in the middle of the islandmy skeleton eroded by her handwhile the bees and the ants are ledby the sun.She should be returning home any minute nowshe carries wild strawberries in her left handshe bends lightly toward his voice, quietly she gazes at himher red eyes glow.The most shameless, the most beautifulunder the black dome and the sharpness of the starsshe will mimic again the grace and the strength of a sword. Μικρὸς ΠόροςΝύχτα στὴ μέση τοῦ νησιοῦὁ σκελετός μου φαγωμένος ἀπ’ τὸ χέρι τηςἐνῶ οἱ μέλισσες καὶ τὰ μερμήγκια ὁδηγοῦνταιἀπ’ τὸν ἥλιο.Ἐκείνη ὅπου νά ’ναι θὰ γυρίζει σπίτιπερνάει στὸ ἀριστερό της χέρι τὶς ἀγριοφράουλεςσκύβει ἐλαφρὰ πρὸς τὴ φωνή του, ἥσυχα τὸν βλέπειτὰ κόκκινα μάτια της φέγγουν.Η πιὸ ἀδιάντροπη ἡ ὀμορφότερηκάτω ἀπὸ τὸν μαῦρο θόλο καὶ τὴν οξυδέρκεια τῶν ἄστρωνθὰ μιμηθεῖ ξανὰ τὴ χάρη καὶ τὴ δύναμη ἑνὸς σπαθιοῦ.
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- October 2, 2024
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“Poros Minor” from Rose Fear by Maria Laina, translated by Sarah McCann.
Published by World Poetry Books on December 5, 2017.
Copyright © 2017 by Sarah McCann.
All rights reserved.
Reproduced by Poetry Daily with permission.
Maria Laina was an award-winning Greek poet, and the author of six books, including Rose Fear (1992) which received the National Literature Prize for Poetry and the City of Munich Literary Prize. Laina also received recognition for her theatrical work, including the plays The Clown (1985) and Reality is Always Here (1990). She translated the short stories of Katherine Mansfield, as well as the critical writings of Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot.
Sarah McCann, a graduate of the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, holds the Tyler Chair in Creative Writing at St. Mark’s School. Her original poetry and translations have been published in such journals as The Bennington Review, South Dakota Review, Words Without Borders, Poetry International, and World Literature Today.
New York, New York
Humanities Institute at the University of Connecticut (Storrs)
“A moving, vivid collection of verse … The collection’s strength lies in its ability to challenge the reader, and its study of time offers new ways of imagining the intangible.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Like a grim fairytale, Laina’s silvery lullaby lyricism morphs into beautifully dark chants and hanging, haikulike scenes as it moves between voices and scraps of stories, complicating and recoloring the feeling of fear itself.”
—World Literature Today
“There is a tenderness never to be daunted, never to be diminished in the poetry of Maria Laina. Here, truly, is the first poet I have found wholly to forward and entirely to voice the spirit of Cavafy. McCann’s deft, supple translations illuminate that spirit perfectly. This is a wonderful venture!”
—Donald Revell
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