SOFIA SKLEIDA

 

As If I Were Aretousa*

 

In the waves of love, I walked with you

I dreamily traveled to your lustful kiss

In the evening I sank deep into your love

And at dawn I vowed to be with you

I swam in your abyss for centuries

I fought for your hug with difficult winters

I locked my love at night in my heart

May his sun not be lost, my moonlit night

If time could come back, I would love again

The eyes I longed for as if I were Aretousa

Wait for you to come secretly in my embrace

And to die whenever you're away...

 

*Erotokritos is an epic poem written in the 17th century by Cretan poet Vitsentzos Kornaros. The 10,000-line poem penned in Cretan dialect in 15-syllable rhyming verse (mantinada) speaks of undying devotion and elevates love to the highest level as it unravels through the romance of Erotokritos and Aretousa.

 

Back To Yesterday

 

Going back, I would change the firmament of the earth

to tread firmly

I would adorn the loneliness with lemon blossoms

The pain, with tulips full of sunbeams of light

Nature, flooded with God's coolness and joy

Bitterness, with a sweet and sour taste of happiness

The beats of your heart, with slow, sluggish awakening

Your eyes, with honestly vivid so as not to lose their color…

 

With The Pen Of The Soul

 

I will write to you with the pen of my soul

I will tell you that I love you in a thousand languages

I will delete all the old remnants

I will sing our love song

Who will talk about summers from scratch

For sun rays that you will have in your hair

New loves that will bring new experiences

and they will remind you of childhood carelessness

With the wings of youth, I will fly

in your sky the starry bottom

I'll do anything for you

to resurrect again…

 

SOFIA SKLEIDA

 

SOFIA SKLEIDA was born in Athens. She studied Filology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens where she obtained her BA, MA in Pedagogy, Ph.D in Comparative Pedagogy and a postdoctoral research certificate . She obtained a certification in the Braille language. Today she works as a teacher in the secondary education. She took part in conferences and published articles in the Greek and international scientific journals, in conference papers and chapters books. She was awarded for her participation in poetry and literary contests in Greece and abroad. Her poems have been translated into Italian, English, Spanish, Albanian, Romanian and Bangla,Her first poetic collection entitled Dream of Oasis (Thessaloniki, 2014), was translated and published in Italy in 2017 (won the second prize in an international competition in Milan). Her first Fairy tale entitled Geometrini was published in 2016, her second with the title The Kingdom of Joy in 2018. Some of her published works are the following: Neologisms, Melismos , Ιn the Mediterranean, Poetic Reflections, Cappadocian theological references in handwritten verses, The teaching of classical languages in the Italian secondary education ,Poetic visions in Paintings, Didactic Trilogy: Body-Spirit-Soul, Educational Proposals,  Cor ad Cor Loquitur , A Second Life , Α trip to the country of “the meeting” , Let there be light, Sentidos Spirituales.  She is Vice President of the Zakynthian Cultural Institute, a regular member at the Panhellenic Union of Writers and at the Association of Greek Writers.