3. 6. At the foot of Mount Athos. Two wings

In the evening Mrs. Fault comes to the village
and sits down between us in the overseas cottage.
The cicadas will sing funeral for me here,
as your wife will do for you,
     but no one will dare – for Love.

Having swallowed two deaths in an instant,
you, Savior of us both, our guardian angel,
knew that the looks of beloved ones
     say more than evidence,
but we are all just a momentary mirage.

The Sun won’t be enough for me,
and the Moon is malicious.
I would give my life for your tenderness, my friend.
Leaving you one of my two wings,
I whispered, saying goodbye,
     “Just try – what if?”

But at midnight at the Tower, there’s the same Monk,
once we met at dawn, and later in dreams,
over the sea of life, he was eager to reach
Mount Athos, having passed through no grief at all.

I handed the second wing to him – it was the time...
I made a sign of cross, sighing,
    “There’s a plateau on the right...”
The cicadas will sing funeral for me here,
as Mount Athos will do for him,
     but no one will dare – for Love.


July 27, 2024

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