‘Delirium for the Four Legs of a Love’ by Dimitris Athinakis (trans. Karen Emmerich)

I see your yesses coming from afar
and my own, like candles,
brandish
and burn
awaiting the centuries

A strong wind
carries off my hat my glasses my tattoo my arm
        carries off
my leg and an eye

       [I'm left there smiling before jets
        gushing the joy of nothingness]

joy —
 it too alone

Stay, if you want, by my side
— even if no one understands us

        [Why let that, too, smother us]

Just let it flow
let time
the wine
the smoke
flow

Source:

• Athinakis, Dimitris. “Delirium for the Four Legs of a Love.” Translated by Karen Emmerich. Austerity Measures: The New Greek Poetry, edited by Karen Van Dyck, New York: New York Review of Books, 2016, p. 11.

Additional reading:

• Interview with poet Dimitris Athinakis
• Dimitris Athinakis’ blog
• More about translator Karen Emmerich
• Review of “Austerity Measures” from the Guardian