Based on Greece 1989
Mariana Efstratiou — To diko sou asteri
I’m flat on my back, buried in sand,
descending, dried up is my lava.
Mind full of doubt, in disarray,
exhaling the breath once inside me.
Anxiety kicks, punches and weeps.
It clouds the stars above me, leaves a scar.
Meadows not seen, sunsets undreamed.
Vivid suns extinguished in a snap.
Impacting my soul, feelings unfold.
A metal chain of sweating and distress.
Fight with my bed, nightmares in head.
Thickening my skin seems a big task.
Like drifting astray, way into space,
my mind’s in some galaxy further.
A glimmer of hope still ushers me,
enough to distinguish the bad days.
My poem’s in smoke, words I forespoke,
they form a state of hurricane so strong.
Hard to explain, it feels mundane,
sunless days of people in a song.
The things left to do, kids to feed too.
The bills to pay and masters to obey.
Shows left to see, coffees to drink.
People that are not with us no more.
My hard life or some neighbour’s next door
burdens carried, stories left untold.
Being bled out, paper cuts.
In between a small or bigger house.
Irritating crowd of scattered thoughts
found this little place to slowly thaw.
Facing the dark of our whole,
gives a better sense of where to go.
At darkest of nights, follow the light,
of the star that shines from outer space…