poem by Ioulia Lymperopoulou

Infinity

 

I just crossed the Piraeus Port Gate 8;

Sideways the symbol of infinity.

And I’m heading to the Island

Sliding on the sea.

 

In upright posture,

It feels like a new beginning

To me.

 

Amongst the people’s voices and coughs

That interrupt the sound carpet of the ship

I wonder

Is there a therapy for PTSD for the dead?

 

It’s easy to say there is no need.

 

They stop:

Thinking

Feeling

Suffering.

 

A comforting thought for the most.

 

Not

For me.

 

I find comfort in calling their names.

The vibration of the syllables

Running through me

Rather than a healer

Is more like a palliative.

But

My

Means

Are

Abruptly

Reduced

And so

Undeniably

Poor.

I try to adjust in vain

Naively struggling to alleviate pain.

 

Augusta

Baby!

Niña,

Mom,

Dad,

Granny,

Grandpa,

Auntie,

Angelina,

Persa,

Sofia!

I call

Their names

And

I’m still

Waiting

For

An answer

To

Come.

 

I would like to ask them:

After you’ve done

All you could

For you

But still had to cross over

To the other side,

How do you feel?

 

What truth is more strongly rooted

Into you:

My body betrayed me

Or

I did everything Ι could?

 

Probably the easiest thing to do

Is going with the flow.

If you resist,

The pain is worse;

In the stomach,

A big rough stone.

 

Pity you can only tell after

You’ve experienced

The scary encounter

With the unknown.

 

A path you cannot avoid

Even if

With all your heart

You tried

To take a detour

Knowing that

You had no real chance

To flee or to elude.

 

Maybe the answer lies within

We’re all after all linked.

But to see I still have to dive in.

It’s like treasure hunting

To my core’s deep.

 

Then I say to myself:

Wake up!

The dead have no need for therapy

The dead get to know already

They arrive first, the cord they cut.

Maybe we suffer from PTSD

While being in constant recovery

From our life’s surprising discoveries

As much as we are in search of where to sow our seeds.

 

History only seems to repeat itself

Although so much is known

Apart from the immense unknown.

 

Going through pain and death

One can see the light in the dark.

The awareness’s brightest spark

Is that

Nothing becomes ours

If we keep locked the door of our hearts.

Mental and feelings need to meet in calm waters

And together in harmony stroll.

 

Could it be that things

Don’t come to an end

Don’t start

They are rather running in a multi-shades-loop?

And the life’s micro-cycles

Are its reminiscent

Whisking us around,

Its fingerprints.

 

We are born

And we learn

From scratch.

It takes some time

To understand

We are not Marco Polo

In every discovery

But nothing

Takes away the excitement

Which,

As it should be,

Is all ours to feel

And yearn for it afterwards as adults.

 

And that’s how it goes again and again.

 

Things

Attract

Meet

Clash

Pull

Push

Get lost

And return.

 

Like atoms, elements and objects

In life’s uniqueness and flow

They

Endlessly

Move

With

No

Bad feelings

Fear

Nor

Regrets.

 

On the way to Aigina (Island in Greece, Europe), 30/05/2024.

poem by Ioulia Lymperopoulou

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