Poetry!
Poetry is madness
- Yet it is also our reason
against irrationality.
Poetry is weakness
Yet it is also power;
The surging force of logos.
Poetry is a course of life
Solitary, indeed,
Against the indifference
In the unreasonable times
of our contemporary lives…
Haiku on Political Power
I.
Dressed in red
in her eyes the glow
of destiny
II.
With a heavy heart
I pack up my trunks
For abroad.
III.
What fighters!
Few resisted
Before the lure
IV.
Gloves on hands
in the rink of life he wears
- The breadwinner
V.
Young Messiahs -
thousands their voters
- zero vision
V!.
Millions of hopes
Have been loaded
on rotten backs.
VII.
No-one is innocent
Of the blame –
First and foremost: myself!
Lust for spring
Lust for spring
spreading all over
memories
of the last spring
that came to hover
over our heads
- memories
and hopes
mingled together
in a whirling dance
in our minds
as bright buds spring
- wishing
this really weren't
the last of springs
- wishing
that spring of springs
were not over
and we could still
quench our thirst
in its holy water
- and spring
were not just a sense
within our heads
- wishing
we could once more
become rovers
of the earth
- ever wishing
that spring were not
lost forever...
(in the COVID-19 quarantine)
Tribute to my Homeland,
GREECE - HELLAS!
Light blue is the colour of your sky,
Light blue is also the colour of your flag ...
May you always walk in peace
over the seas and sky high may you fly.
In your land of olive trees
lazily rest in moments of peace
of true democracy
always contemplating boldly
- as dictated by your legacy -
The times lying ahead,
of yet more glorious deeds!
HELLAS!
Made up of Land and Sea!
Gaia and Als!
And in times of quake,
Of fire and oblivion
Oh, you, the mighty sword
Of combined spirit and soul
May you shake!
LOSS II
Heart-breaking cries violently tore up
The unbearable silence
The senses suddenly deadened
And everyone’s heart broke up
To jigsaw pieces of a hideous past
At the unprovoked blast
Sirens of sorrow took control
The sweet voices stopped echoing
In the schoolyards - no noise at all
And from the trees all fruits fell
The branches bent down dead
As rage reared suddenly its ugly head.
Even teardrops turned to stone
When finally the eyes shut
Forever cold, eternally alone
As holy soil covered them up
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
The flowers gave out for the last time
Their precious scent to the source of life
Promising never again to feel alive
Since their pure love had been betrayed
And a black dawn rushed out bearing blood and pain
All over scarlet clouds and weeping rain,
the sun shone stiff, cold and still -
suddenly it all seemed an unbearable shame
Whenever a child searched for love in vain
Whenever a kid got abused and whipped
or utterly worse – even wretchedly –
got lost or indifferently killed…
Back to school one more time see pretty little faces
Mostly new ones,
Yet also some other- familiar ones
Which remind me of the past,
When you yourself were still
Innocent new and young
Perhaps with a dust of fear
In your eleven- year-old eyes,
But still,
Full of hopes and dreams
Awaiting to fulfill
In your hard days of the present,
Though most of all the future.
What was future then
Is how present, maybe even past,
Which makes you want
To judge yourself again
And see which of these
You’ ve really done.
And now you’ re once more back
Standing at the other bank
Of the longest river called ‘life’
Where you’ re stuck
About to make a fresh start.
You are back at school
(maybe for the last time)
THOUGHTS, DREAMS and WISHES...
If only the WORLD really became ONE FAMILY!
If only…
If only people could talk in the same way, walking down the path of peace and friendship – despite the fact that they’re not able to speak the same language…
Animals do not speak the same language and some great friendships are developed:[ between a puppy and a kitten, a horse and a goat, a rabbit and a turtle, a sheep and a shepherd’s dog… Between a sea anemone and a clown fish, between a lion and a mouse, between a bird and a rhino, a dog and a dolphin or a seal… Despite their differences in nature, size or colour…
If they can live in harmony, then why can’t we – the descendants of Homo Sapiens? Though we are the species that should set the example upon this planet, unfortunately, we do not. We are consumed by our huge ego, by our mounting greed, by our urge to amass and accumulate – riches, materials, lands… Disregarding who or what we step upon on our way towards our predetermined goal; upon other people’s hopes and dreams, even souls.
Nature is the greatest teacher of all, it shows us, by example, the way we should act and live. Yet, why don’t we seem to be able to listen? If only people could talk of values - values such as tolerance, solidarity, support, respect - and be willing to act according to them!
Like so many eminent philosophers all around the world have taught or urged us to do: Live and let live, respect all life forms, learn to accept differences - for they are the ones that make all of us unique…
If only love and peace, the ultimate values, prevailed upon this planet, then the world would be a place really worth living. Then Heaven would come down to embrace the earth; to embrace us all! Us and our offspring.
Only then would we be free to finally dream of a really united world, of a new dawn full of the light of spirit bathing us all - A totally new world we all deserve to wake up on! A world we would not be ashamed to hand down to the generations to come…
Lust for spring II –
Lust for Peace!
Lust for Spring
spreading all over
dreams that come to hover
over our heads
- memories and hopes
like bells that ring
mingle together
in a whirling dance
in our minds and our souls
embracing us in a trance
as bright buds spring
and give off their fragrance
- wishing for fair weather
For our offspring -
And sparkling springs
To quench our thirst
in their holy water
Because spring is not
just a season
- Though the first –
Evidently the best -
or merely a sense
as light as a feather.
- spring is of the essence!
The beginning of the end
of cold winter, of death,
signalling new life
and lust for peace
On a new Earth
Governed by spirit
Freedom and justice
Respect and merit -
An overall new birth
Based on love
Friendship and reason,
Where the peace dove
Will be – at last- able to fly
Absolutely free, sky high;
To bathe in the light
And the heavenly water
And at dusk to finally lie
Happily down to rest
Not having any more to fight
And to let its wings dry
upon a colourful flower bed
in the sun of union and right
in this new united world!
Σάμος και Σμύρνη
Το Αιγαίο στη μέση
- ένας ο πόνος
Ειρήνη Ντούρα-Καββαδία
Samos and Smyrna
the Aegean in between
the same pain...
30.10.2020.
*Irene Doura-Kavadia, educationalist, linguist, internationally awarded litterateur – multilingual translator was born in Athens, Greece. She completed her curricular studies and graduated with Ηonors from the Faculty of German Language and Literature (National & Kapodistrian University of Athens). With her dissertation she was awarded the MA in Comparative Linguistics in the following languages - Ancient Greek, Roman, English, French, German, Modern Greek, Italian, Spanish). Four years later she was awarded the Master’s Degree (MSc.) in Computational Linguistics (Faculty of Linguistics at the National & Kapodistrian University, Faculty of Computer Engineering and Robotics - National Technical University). She has worked as a volunteer at the research team of the National Institute for Research & Technology “Demokritos” (Dpt. of Microelectronics) and has participated in the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence (Paper 2004, Irene Doura et al.). For several years she worked as a tutor of foreign languages (English, German, French and Spanish) in private schools and as a translator and research associate in law firms, specializing in European patents (mostly German, English/American). She is currently the owner and Director of Studies at “ACADEMY CENTRES” (20 Foreign Languages, e-learning, Translation & Informatics Academy). As a writer (author, poet, essayist, columnist) she has participated in various literary competitions and has received corresponding awards, accolades and honors, both in Greece and abroad, for instance in the 23rd and 24th International Poetry Prize for two consecutive years 2010 & 2011 (Pontedera, Pisa, Italy) and the 1st International Essay Award 2011 (diasporic literature, Australia). She is a member of the National Union of Writers, the Artistic Team “Bankit”, the World Peace Academy, the International "World Poets Society", the Australian Literary Union “Diasporic” and the American “International Writers Association”. She is a member of the UNESCO Node Greece, as well as member of Board in two Organisations, one being the Node of Friends of the Red Cross. She has been involved in projects in various exhibitions, art festivals and other cultural events, and her works have been recited in many competitions, poetic & musical events, festivals and art features, both in Greece and abroad. Poems and prose/texts as well as stories of hers have been issued in literary magazines, anthologies, collections of short stories, online literary encyclopedias and websites that promote literature and culture (ex. Cyprus, Italy, Spain, India, Australia, Canada, the USA, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and countries of the Balkans). Her educational and literary books – both in Greek and in English – are taught in several private institutions as well as state schools in Greece and abroad in all educational levels. Books of hers have also been published as e-books by www.easywriter.gr.
She has given series of lectures as a linguist - teacher of foreign languages as well as a litterateur in congresses, conferences and other cultural events both in Greece and abroad representing her country. She has been acknowledged for her work by many Organizations, such as the Municipality of Athens, as a successful entrepreneur by “Women Leaders – 2019 and 2020”, and as a distinguished personality of her country by “Who Is Who Greece – Purple Edition, 2020”. In the International Panorama Literature Festival 2020 she was awarded the Global Award of Literary Achievement.