EVITA CONSTANTINOU

 

 

Aligning

 

At every dawn

Words begin to whisper,

And in their endless turning

Inspiration stirs.

 

At school, at work,

They murmur quietly,

Falling into lines—

Not without dispute.

 

Driving the car

They break again into song;

They change their masks,

They trouble the mind.

 

In the music I hear

They send other signals—

A satirical glance,

Mischief in their step.

 

Even in the kitchen

The words begin to rhyme;

They search for occasions

With a hunger for poetry.

 

A quiet symmetry

When they stand in rows—

Unyielding,

Even sailing through the bath.

 

By dusk they grow tired;

They whistle softly,

Fishing for endings

Upon my lips.

 

In the arms of Morpheus

They wrestle in my mind—

Night-wanderers of thought

That suddenly appear.

 

Whatever I do

Everything becomes measure.

Oh syllables, Oh endings,

You are my center.

 

Day or night,

A birth of the soul:

My life, a single rhyme

Rising into poem.

© Evita Constantinou

 

EVITA CONSTANTINOU

 

EVITA CONSTANTINOU was born and raised in Limassol, where she currently resides with her family. She has been serving as a primary school teacher for 24 years. She is recognized as one of the Cultural Ambassadors by the Ministry of Culture. Evita has been involved in poetry and writing since her childhood, with a particular interest in Cypriot poetry and dialect (tsiatista). In 2021, she published her first poetry collection titled “Χαρταετού Ανάβαση” ("The Kite’s Ascent") as well as a music album “Σαν Χαρταετός” ("Like a Kite") featuring songs composed from the collection. In recent years, she has also been writing lyrics, having written 17 songs and developed collaborations with Greek and Cypriot composers. She is actively engaged in social, charitable, and cultural activities across Cyprus and is the initiator of the nationwide campaign “Αρκουδάκια από το Σπίτι για το ΣΠΙΤΙ” ("Teddy Bears from Home for Home"), which recently achieved the Guinness World Record for the longest chain of stuffed toys in the world (17,815 stuffed toys in a chain of 3,521 km). Evita is a member of the Cyprus Writers Association (ELA), the Cyprus Children's and Young Adult Book Association (KΣΠΝΒ - CYBBI), the Limassol Literary Society - Vassilis Michaïlides, where she serves on the Board as Secretary of Public Relations, the Literary and Criticism Club (OLK), the Greek Cultural Club of Cypriots (E.P.O.K), and the Musical and Poetic Arts Club Musagetes Apollon. Since 2021, she has been part of the author network at Chronos Publications. Her eco-friendly children’s book titled "ΔΕΝ ΕΙΜΑΙ ΣΚΟΥΠΙΔΙ" ("I’m Not Trash") is illustrated by Christos Christou and is already in its second edition. Both her poetry collection and the book have been approved by the Ministry of Education of Cyprus and are included in the school library materials. Her book has participated in 13 International Book Fairs. She has been awarded in numerous literary competitions at national, Greek, and international levels. Evita has contributed to 21 collective literary editions in both Greek and English. Recently, was released her new poetry collection titled: ΚΛΩΘΟΝΤΑΣ ΤΟ ΜΥΡΟ (Threading the Myrrh) through Chronos Publications.