For a year, no less,

I had no chance

to talk to you.

You had no chance

to talk to me.

A wall as thick

as the ocean when frozen

was between us.

But I was watching you

through that transparent wall

like a shadow.

What can I say?

Nothing remains

in my dictionary --

every verb is dead,

every noun.

All went away.

I have been taught:

whoever plants bitter

will harvest bitter,

whoever plants sweet

will harvest sweet.

Yet I harvested bitter

although I planted

the sweetest ever.

I know how much

the earth hates blood,

shakes, and cries when it sees blood,

yet you laughed when

you saw my wound bleeding.

In the land of love,

I gave up nightclubs,

rejected things nobody rejects,

for you were the closest to

my heart in spite!

Published in τό τόпоς, 1999, USA