Glistening mountains, winter-crowned,
and forests (maybe wolves) surround
the town of Jannena, in Epirus.
In the theatre, songs of Brecht
and Weill, the plangent, bitter pull
of Europe in an age of faithlessness.
I traipse the unfamiliar streets
like someone in a dream, but searching,
listening and feeling for the inner beat.
The lake, the night, the singer's voice
disorient, disquieting with intimations
of the women drowned to please a tyrant.
Note: Ali Pasha became the despot of Epirus
in the late 18th - early 19th centuries.
(Byron met with him.) Women of his harem were
sometimes tied in weighted sacks and drowned
in Lake Pamvotis, at Jannena.
The Lake, the Night, the Singer
© Copyright: Jena Woodhouse, 2003
Свидетельство о публикации №103022800535
Свидетельство о публикации №103022800535
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