What better place to go than to the poetry of Nikos Kavadias (also spelt with a double 'v')? He takes us on some wonderful, exotic voyages and journeys out of ourselves and far from our comfort zones.
Many of his poems have been set to music by composers such as Thanos Mikroutsikos.
Kuro Siwo, paintings by George Kordis.
One of his best poems, for me, is Mavri Lista (Black List), about blacklisted or decommissioned English sea-captains, stranded on dry land, stuck back home where they came from, their heads still full of their knowledge of seamanship. Bitter, heavy-drinking and quarrelsome individuals, they still live only for the sea.
The Collected Poems of Nikos Kavadias have been translated by Gail Horst-Warhaft. Bilingual edition, Cosmos Publishing, 2006. Recommended.
No comments:
Post a Comment