“The purest and
most thoughtful minds are those which love colour the most.” - John Ruskin
The theme this
week for Poets United is "colour".
Here is my
contribution.
In Foreign Lands
When faint twilight of late evening
-Violet-coloured-
Cries out my plangent woe,
My heart will every time go back
To Greece to die.
Each dusk when my emptiness awakes
-Grey-hued-
And sinks its sharpened claws deep into my breast,
My heart flies out
To Greece to die.
When foreign-speaking songs
-Uncoloured-
Fail to reach my soul, and whose alien language
Cannot communicate with my heart, it goes
To Greece to die
Each day when the morning sun rises
-Jet black-
It chills my shallow, failing breath,
And my heart can’t stand it, it escapes always
To Greece to die.
When envious eyes
-Green-tinged-
Look at me with hidden malice,
And closed minds can’t embrace me, my heart comes
To Greece to die.
And each time my heart trembles and dies
-In blue caerulean-
High up in Attic sky, from death it’s roused, revived,
Only to be forced to leave its country yet again
And in a foreign land be killed each lilac-tinted evening.
When faint twilight of late evening
-Violet-coloured-
Cries out my plangent woe,
My heart will every time go back
To Greece to die.
Each dusk when my emptiness awakes
-Grey-hued-
And sinks its sharpened claws deep into my breast,
My heart flies out
To Greece to die.
When foreign-speaking songs
-Uncoloured-
Fail to reach my soul, and whose alien language
Cannot communicate with my heart, it goes
To Greece to die
Each day when the morning sun rises
-Jet black-
It chills my shallow, failing breath,
And my heart can’t stand it, it escapes always
To Greece to die.
When envious eyes
-Green-tinged-
Look at me with hidden malice,
And closed minds can’t embrace me, my heart comes
To Greece to die.
And each time my heart trembles and dies
-In blue caerulean-
High up in Attic sky, from death it’s roused, revived,
Only to be forced to leave its country yet again
And in a foreign land be killed each lilac-tinted evening.
Excellent write :)
ReplyDeleteMoving and heart wrenching. Very well written :)
ReplyDeleteOh, I think I know where your heart is, Nick! I feel the yearning in this poem. There obviously is something very special about the country/place you were born. Home is HOME no matter how far away....and how many years. Though I haven't lived in my 'home town' for 4 decades now, it still is my hometown! But at least I can more easily visit....
ReplyDeleteThe colors of Greece are legend! And so Legend is the colors of Greece. When you add the claws digging in Prometheus and other myths like jealousy and death itself, I know the passion with which you live. It may be a return to contemporary Greece can not live up to this, but I will have to trust you on that as I've never been there. I believe this poem.
ReplyDeleteA moving piece beautifully expressed with all the emotional colours. Things that set us apart ,for what ever reason, can produce a lot of violet hues but conversely the gift of passion brings an outpouring of extraordinary joy spinning us into the cerulean blue.The Ruskin quote is wonderful. Enjoyed this immensely.
ReplyDeleteThat repeated closing line of each stanza says it all..........so beautifully!
ReplyDeletecould feel the pangs of the spirit caught in a dilemma...homecoming and setting out..love how colors play their part to evoke that nostalgia..
ReplyDeleteI love the quote and the sense of going to our spiritual homeland (wherever that maybe) when we die...in some ways perhaps that gives our life more purpose?
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful Nickolas. I like the repetition of the line, and the last stanza wraps all your lovely words and images perfectly. I can understand the yearning for your native land. Though I don't yearn for mine because I left so young, my father-in-law felt like you do about his native Puerto Rico. I enjoyed reading this so much.
ReplyDeleteThe compassionate heart traveling all the time....very deeply resonates..
ReplyDelete