Manos Loizos

That day won’t be long in coming
when I’ll see you again in front of me.
The sunlight will be broken
and you will be running towards me.

Your forehead will be spreading
golden rain in the sky
and your nice face
will be paler than the moon.

And when our hearts will become one
everything will be shining differently
and the whole old world
will vanish in our shadows.

That day won’t be long in coming,
my hunted bird,
the West once took you away,
the East is bringing you back.

Η μέρα κείνη δε θ’ αργήσει
κυνηγημένο μου πουλί
σε πήρε κάποτε η δύση
σε ξαναφέρνει η ανατολή

Riding the dolphin
I circled the world
I said I would forget you
but I missed you

Dolphin, little dolphin
let’s go faster
to see her curly
eyelashes

Wherever I rambled
you came behind me
wounds in the breast
my sea journey

Dolphin, little dolphin
let’s go faster
to see her curly
eyelashes

(translation: Eva Johanos)

Δελφίνι δελφινάκι
πάμε πιο γρήγορα
Να δω τα γυριστά της
τα ματοτσίνορα

Ach my swallow, how can you fly
in this blackened sky?
the sunset is dripping blood
and how will you cry, how will you cry,
ach my swallow

Ach my palikari [brave young man], the trains have left,
there is no road to leave the country,
and those who spoke of liberation,
tell me where they went, tell me where they went,
ach my palikari

Ach my dear little heart, imprisoned,
the sun you are awaiting does not come,
only the town-crier in the market-place
deafens you, he deafens you,
ach my poor little heart

Άχου καρδούλα μου φυλακισμένη
δε βγαίνει ο ήλιος που καρτεράς
μόνο ο ντελάλης της αγοράς
σε ξεκουφαίνει σε ξεκουφαίνει
άχου καρδούλα μου

First of May, and from the Bastille
they set out, the hearts of the students;
thousands of banners- red- black-
Frederick, Katrine and Simone

In the streets, in the crowds
I run through the streets, I search the crowds
where is the girl, the girl that I love

Tell me Maria, do you remember by any chance
that late afternoon I took you in my arms
first of May, just like at present
and I was kissing your long hair

In the streets, in the crowds
I run through the streets, I search the crowds
where is the girl, the girl that I love

First of May, it’s gloomy to be away from home
close the window, don’t let the child get cold

Πρώτη Μαΐου μαύρα τα ξένα
κλείσε το τζάμι μην κρυώσει το παιδί

Death wounds the birds on the wing
and the deer when they lean to drink water
and me, a tree planted in earth,
he uproots me every dawn.

My Sun, I beg you
tell the bereaved ones
to cry in the sea of bitterness
for us, the betrayed ones.

Like a murderer in the dark night I stay awake
I drink tears, I swallow vile smoke
with knives in my heart I cannot
sing nor hope…

My Sun, I beg you
tell the bereaved ones
to cry in the sea of bitterness
for us, the betrayed ones.

Ήλιε μου σε παρακαλώ
πες τους χαροκαμένους
να κλαιν στης πίκρας το γιαλό
για μας τους προδομένους

Ήλιε μου, καλο-ήλιε μου, στο καλό χρυσό πουλί μου,
κι αύριο με την αυγή, στο μπαλκόνι, στην αυλή μου,
έλα μου, χρυσό πουλί μου.

In my old neighborhood I had a friend
who knew how to play the accordion
when he sang he was the spitting image of the sun
fires in his hands were ignited by the accordion

But one evening, dark like all the others
he kept a look-out as he played the accordion
Fascist lorries stood by the fence
and one burst of gunfire stopped the accordion

The slogan which was started always comes back to me
whenever I hear, since then, the accordion
and like a stamp it has marked my life
“It shall not prevail, fascism!”

(translation: Eva Johanos)

Τ’ αρχινισμένο σύνθημα πάντα μου μένει
όποτε ακούω από τότε ακορντεόν
κι έχει σαν στάμπα τη ζωή μου σημαδέψει
δε θα περάσει ο φασισμός

A few carnations remain in the flower-pots
On the plain, they will by now have ploughed the earth
They scatter the seed
They have gathered the olives
All things prepare themselves for winter.

And I, filled with your absence
Charged with the longing for the great journeys
I am waiting like an anchored freighter
in the middle of Bursa.*

Κι εγώ γεμάτος απ’ την απουσία σου
Φορτωμένος με την ανυπομονησία
των μεγάλων ταξιδιών …
Περιμένω σαν αγκυροβολημένο φορτηγό
μέσα στην Προύσα ..
μέσα στην Προύσα …

The wind flows and leaves
the same wind never moves twice
the same branch of the cherry tree

The birds sing in the tree
they are wings that want to fly

Here the door is closed
I must throw it down
I must see you my beloved

Ah, may life be beautiful as you are
ah, may it be a beloved friend, as you are

I know- it has not ended
the symposium of sorrow
but it will end…

(translation: Eva Johanos)

Το ξέρω – ακόμα δεν τελείωσε
της δυστυχίας το συμπόσιο
μα θα τελειώσει…