by Andriana Ierodiaconou
The Partridge
I don’t know whether you’ve ever seen a partridge
running before the car
without brains enough to escape into the brambles
finally out of kindness we shoo it to one side
even if it means no roast partridge tonight, but boiled greens.
Fate is in pursuit
and we without brains enough for a getaway in the brambles
and it’s weighing whether to let us off this once
or whether our time has come
even if one morning we gave up a partridge as a gift to nature.
The Cypress
I’ve lived in five countries
and I am bound to say
people are not everywhere the same.
They may weep, they may die
but every language has one word which is untranslatable.
Cypress trees are the same
you can always talk to a cypress.
To the cypress tree in my yard I say:
“You are lucky you’ll never live in five countries”
and the cypress agrees.
In my next life
I want to be born a cypress
whatever happens to me, to happen
straight up to the sky from the ground.
Translated by the poet.