I am ⋮ weeping.

I am one who knows that the new
shall meet the old amid much weeping

Nikos A. Panagiotopoulos, from his long-form poem Syssimon (The Sign Agreed Upon)

Είμαι άνθρωπος που ξέρει πως τα καινούργια
θα βρούνε τα παλιά μέσα στα κλάματα

Translated for (and taken from) a text by the director Michail Marmarinos describing his MYSTERY 0, the opening ceremony of 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture.

This text was written for the event catalogue Mysteries of Transition.

A ballad ⋮ beloved.

A life ⋮ forever here.

A mutilated ⋮ death.

All ⋮ in and of itself.

All that I ⋮ back.

An all-round driver of ⋮ systems.

An earthquake ⋮ himself.

An opportunity⋮ precedes syntax.

And ⋮ the land.

Are you afraid ⋮ comrade.

Banana falls ⋮ over.

Betrayal comes from ⋮ another.

Boughs ⋮ like ink (Egyptian).

But rejection ⋮ at night.

Don’t ⋮ bare, bereft.

Down on the ⋮ floor.

Each night, ⋮ tears.

For better or ⋮ return.

Ghost boy ⋮ killer.

I am ⋮ weeping.

I asked him ⋮ to dance more.

I come ⋮ cover up.

I find a plaque ⋮ fascinating.

Inside ⋮ its warm embrace.

It is ⋮ everything.

Let me ⋮ never come.

Like ⋮ the smell of earth.

Look now ⋮ and grow tame.

Me – the material ⋮ necessity.

Miss! Pride and ⋮ bows.

Nightmarish forest of ⋮ our own.

Noon ⋮ lies ahead.

Painting ⋮ with the body.

Plunged in ⋮ our gaze.

Rose-like ⋮ all the flowers.

The catharsis ⋮ of proportion.

The difference ⋮ is absurdity.

The migratory moves ⋮ immense.

The things ⋮ now behind.

This here ⋮ (from Brazil.)

This place of ours is ⋮ sky.

Today ⋮ forever more.

What ⋮ everyone will say.

Words ⋮ seem unrecognisable.