“Making your unknown known is the important thing” Georgia O’Keeffe (artist)
Today I’m sharing two drawings with an underlying Easter thread maybe because Easter is coming up here in Greece. Of course, everything will be different this year with the enforced lock down. Customarily, many small businesses like guest houses, cafes, restaurants, hotels and other shops would be looking forward to this period, the many visitors and tourists and the additional income. Also, it is more an outdoor celebration. Now the town is empty, the roads are quieter, the buses are not running and very few people travel to and from the island by boat. It is hard to wrap one’s mind around the global consequences of job and income loss for so many people here and around the world. We will eventually all make different meaning of these events depending on our prior experiences, circumstances, value system and general outlook on life. For me it seems that the only way to move forward and to survive both as a species and a planet is to embrace a more collaborative, respectful view of both other people and the world at large. One invisible virus seems to have sent a big part of the world on an enforced lock down with consequences that we will fully understand as the health crisis recedes and the fiscal and social collateral damage comes into full view.
Maybe this general experience of being housebound could lead us to rethink prevalent cut throat competitive and aggressive attitudes and behaviours at work, at school settings and in other social group contexts. Instead of being at war with each other we could experiment with coexisting respectfully despite our diversity, considering that others are like us and have similar fundamental needs. In his book, The Winter of our Discontent, John Steinbeck wrote: “No man really knows about other human beings. The best he can do is to suppose that they are like himself.” After all, our own humanity is intertwined with recognising others’ humanity. Desmond Tutu has said “When we see others as the enemy, we risk becoming what we hate. When we oppress others, we end up oppressing ourselves. All of our humanity is dependent upon recognizing the humanity in others.” For the many of us who are healthy it could also become a time of retreat, rest, reflection and spending time in nature. We have been taking walks in places we hadn’t walked before, and have found that after decades of living here I am still moved by the beauty of the scenery of this small island. A few photos of places we have ventured recently.
Along with the photos and drawings I am posting poems in the form of journal entries, by the Greek Nobel prize winner poet Odysseas Elytis, of Saturday and Easter Sunday
‘The Journal of an Unseen April, which has been translated into English by David Connolly contains 49 poems in the form of journal entries, beginning on 1 April and ending on 7 May, and covers the whole period of an unspecified Greek Easter (though some critics specify the year as being 1981 when Easter fell, as in the Journal, on 26 April). ……..’
Από τη συλλογή «Ημερολόγιο ενός αθέατου Απριλίου» που αποτελείται από 49 ποιήματα με τη μορφή σελίδων ημερολογίου, που ξεκινά 1η Απριλίου και τελειώνει 7 Μαΐου, καλύπτοντας όλη την περίοδο του Ελληνικού Πάσχα (πιθανά του 1981), η οποία περιλαμβάνεται στην έκδοση: «ΟΔΥΣΣΕΑΣ ΕΛΥΤΗΣ – ΠΟΙΗΣΗ», Ίκαρος 2002)
Μ. ΣΑΒΒΑΤΟ, 25
Περαστική από τη χθεσινή αϋπνία μου / λίγο, για μια στιγμή, μου χαμογέλασε
η θεούλα με τη μωβ κορδέλα / που από παιδάκι μού κυκλοφοράει τα μυστικά
Ύστερα χάθηκε πλέοντας δεξιά / να πάει ν’ αδειάσει τον κουβά με τ’ απορρίμματά μου –
της ψυχής αποτσίγαρα κι αποποιηματάκια – εκεί που βράζει ακόμη όλο παλιά νεότητα / και αγέρωχο το πέλαγος.
Μ. ΣΑΒΒΑΤΟ, 25 β
Πάλι μες στην κοιλιά της θάλασσας το μαύρο εκείνο σύννεφο / που ανεβάζει κάπνες / όπως φωνές επάνω από ναυάγιο
Χαμένοι αυτοί που πιάνονται από τ’ Άπιαστα
Όπως εγώ προχθές του αγίου Γεωργίου ανήμερα
που πήγα να παραβγώ μ’ αλόγατα όρθια και θωρακοφόρους
και μου χύθηκε όλη, όξω απ’ τη γης, η ερωτοπαθής ψυχή μου.
ΚΥΡΙΑΚΗ (ΠΑΣΧΑ), 26
Καθαρή διάφανη μέρα. Φαίνεται ο άνεμος που ακινητεί με τη μορφή βουνού κει κατά τα δυτικά. Κι η θάλασσα με τα φτερά διπλωμένα, πολύ χαμηλά, κάτω από το παράθυρο.
Σου ’ρχεται να πετάξεις ψηλά κι από κει να μοιράσεις δωρεάν την ψυχή σου. Ύστερα να κατεβείς και, θαρραλέα, να καταλάβεις τη θέση στον τάφο που σου ανήκει.
ΚΥΡΙΑΚΗ (ΠΑΣΧΑ), 26 β
Ανεμόεσσα κόρη ενήλικη θάλασσα / πάρε το κίτρο που μου ’δωκε ο Κάλβος / δικιά σου η χρυσή μυρωδία
Μεθαύριο θα ’ρθουν τ’ άλλα πουλιά / θα ’ναι πάλι ελαφρές των βουνών οι γραμμές / μα βαριά η δική μου καρδία.