SHADES OF SMYRNA

Athens

Past refugees

haunt the streets of this city.

Pavestones cover forgotten lives,

each district conceals

a trail of hardship and loss.

 

Their dreams are long eclipsed

but surface when the moon comes up

invoked by timeless music

from bouzoukis

 

as people dance in clubs

or couples chat

in sleepy kebab shops

over barrelled wine

that somehow drags the night along

stretching slow hours

till dawn arrives

 

while traffic slurs colour and light

loudly across the streets,

blasting out songs from radios

that keep history alive

and those shades of Smyrna

are maybe listening too.

 

From the pamphlet Unknown Territory. First published in Vox Poetica ezine 2018