708 | Fire – Manolis, Greece

Photo Germain Droogenbroodt

FIRE

Fire will take its revenge

after scorching the earth

it will become a tamed, caged tiger

to light the half-fallen hovel,

a lonely candle,

to bake bread in the iron pan

placed over two stones

the first reused exterior oven

love cloths moistened by sweat

drying up on cloths-line

Fire will take its revenge

after scorching the earth

to become the savior

an ancient mythological saint

depicted in icons

a static rock standing, as a statue

preserved in the endlessness of time.

Manolis, Greece (1947)