Chora
98 the widows’ handbook Chora Laura Manuelidis I am dancing for you Only for you, Elias The way I used to On your birthday Eyes open While yours are now closed. No one has called today. It’s too long ago. Besides Laertes doesn’t like Rembetika “Too guttural and crude,” while Manolis never even listened to them. They are in ancient Sapphic stanzas The sounds you can’t translate From the archaic. How is it possible to experience joy When tears pulse through the floor Only to be swallowed? How is it possible to remember pine trees Disappeared from the shore Last winter Or comprehend their pointed light that pierces the past, scented? The pausing wind, the boughs outstretched, The invariant Syncopation of fingers— Snapping. My feet are lifted and simultaneously embedded in the ground. How is it possible to still dance for you memories, ghosts, dreams 99 Sitting in that empty chair With every feature of your head present Like granite? The musician’s pick is laughing While the strings incessantly repeat refrains of Αγάπη, The mystery. Author’s Notes: Rembetika: harsh songs, exposed without craft, written by outcasts between 80 and 90 in Lydian, Dorian, and other minor modes, mainly syncopated against the heartbeat. A few are in perfect Sapphic stanzas. Αγάπη (agapi): love, in Greek. ...
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