Γιάννης Ρίτσος
Yannis Ritsos was born in Monemvasia (Greece), in 1909. Ritsos published his first poetry work in 1934. He won the National prize of poetry for his Moonlight Sonata poem.
In 1967, Yannis Ritsos was arrested by the George Papadopoulos dictatorship and spent many years in the Yiaros prison camp. His poetry was banned in Greece.
Ritsos died in 1990, at home. He wrote more than one hundred books of poems and essays.
He are some of the short poems found in his book called "Yannis Ritsos Repetitions Testimonies Parentheses":
Completeness Almost
You know, death doesn't exist, he said to her.
I know, yes, now that I'm dead, she answered.
Your two shirts are ironed, in the drawer.
The only thing I'm missing is a small rose.
Mode of Acquisition
Whatever you hold in your hands
so carefully, wish so much love,
yours so totally, my companion,
you must give away
in order for it to become yours.
Because
Because the buses were stopped in front of the railing
because the dolls in the lighted shop windows gesticulated
because the girl with the bicycle lingered outside the drugstore
because the carpenter broke the glass door of the beer hall
because the child was alone in the elevator with a stolen pencil
because the dogs had abandoned the seaside villas
because the rusty grater had been covered over by nettles
because the sky was ashen with a red fish
because the horse on the mountain was more alone than the star
because these and those both were hunted
because of this, only because of this, I told you lies.
Greek Scene
He dismounted, hitched his horse to the huge mulberry tree, took a leak.
The horse was looking at him. He slapped its neck.
"We're young," he said.
The sun was calling out among the osiers.
The cicadas were coming on strong.
The fig tree's shadow banged against the stones.
A huge red sail was flapping above the plane trees.
The horse was twitching its ears, sometimes the one,
sometimes the other, while below,
two young boatmen were rolling the huge iron barrel along the road.
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