Asked for a memory the first that came to mind
The moonless sky, the warmth of that Athenian night,
The pervading scent of citrus aurantium trees,
The juice of bitter oranges trickling down my chin.
At the head of the long marble dining table our fathers
Confabulating on future ventures amidst the blooming garden
Giggling kids whenever they would get together,
They witnessed each other’s children birth saw us growing
Blind to our own, looming adventure.
Endeared in turn by a memory the first and oldest
The August sun, Kastellorizo’s limpid sapphire sea,
Finning fish our childhood summersaults your tricks
Triggering my chortles, mine your chuckles I was bound
To you unknowing in Tennessee’s words,
We had this date from the beginning and that night
Your unexpected invitation whispered my fate,
Perhaps destined from the start to give to you
What can only be given once.
You took me to the forest on a mount of limestone
I felt something was different for my body was conquered
By intensifying heat in countless summers
We never took a stroll on a moonless night in a park,
Nor did we ever walk your howling hunting dogs.
You lured me I followed enchanted by Athens at our feet
Sat on the grass under pine trees an instant to notice
Her absence, contemplate the beauty you kissed me
And that was when, I gave myself to you on Lycabettus hill.
[Featured photo: View of Athens and Acropolis from Lycabettus hill, at dawn, by Davide Vadala]