To a Sailor

OK, obviously I’ve had Saint Nicholas on the brain over the past few weeks. And since, in addition to his being one mean Mo Fo when it comes to putting heretics in their place, he is also the patron saint of mariners, this post and the next one will have sailors as their theme.

θέλω νά πέσω στή θάλασσα τών ματιών σου
μά δέν ξέρω κολύμπι
τάχα θά τρέξεις νά μέ σώσεις
ή θά μ’αφήσεις νά πνιγώ;

[σέ έναν ναύτη]

I want to fall into the sea of your eyes
only I don’t know how to swim
will you, I wonder, rush to save me
or will you let me drown?

This simple but sexy little poem, entitled “To a Sailor,” is by Dino Christianopoulos, a contemporary Greek poet from Thessaloniki. The translation is by Nicholas Kostis. If anyone (that means you, all you readers over in Greece) knows where I can find a volume of Christianopoulos’ complete works in the original Greek, I’ll be your best cyberfriend.

The painting is Portrait of T.M. as a Sailor (1976, oil on canvas) by Yiannis Tsarouchis (1910-1989), whose work I’ve posted before. I just love that the sailor in this portrait appears to be blushing from all the attention he’s getting.