Saturday, October 1, 2022

XANTHI HONDROU-HILL

 



Poetic Habitat 

 

The poets live

in their poems.

They are born in them

they grow up there

they are raised by the words

in the spaces they breath

they are resting on the punctuation

and even when they leave

they exist in the white of every piece of paper

at the edge of every pencil

and in the infinite possibilities of

expression in every language of the world...

 

Mediterranean Waves…

 

Three blue poets fill our life, one singing the blue from the sky

the other the waves of the sea and, the third whispers the wisdom of the wind

 

No matter to which shores the poem takes us, with which clouds we want to travel,

with the wave of a blue scarf, the white sail of a boat, or the wing of a plane

there is always the wisdom of the wind to carry us

 

To reach the shores of dreams, with flowers, pebbles and sea shells as treasures.

The nights were we talked at blue tables with friends or on the phone miles away,

listening to the tide at full moon,

the fun we shared travelling in a rental car without lights

on an island looking to avoid a monastery and

ending up spending the day there in the arms of a Saint,

bringing with us healing oils and sacred water

 

The paintings we discovered in the small museum, in our faces

and on the street corners looking down to the sea,

feeding a foreign hungry artist at the little coffee shop by the seaside

We didn't exchange letters and alphabets like our ancestors,

didn't care if the numbers were Arabic or Greek, didn't even try to find common ground...

 

Because three blue poets, a painter and a musician filled our life

with the waves of the Mediterranean…

 

Eternal Reminder

 

With the Perfection the sky joins the sea

the signs of Mörike's blue ribbon in the air,

the light of Odysseus Elytis, the peace of Pablo Neruda...

Among blossoming peach and cherry trees wandering speechless

 

On the mountain tops

with a wild wish of youth in the mind

with a wild herb in the hand

looking down to the hills of nature’s passion

in breathless excitement

 

on the pebble beaches with open arms

embracing the width of the horizon

open borders between countries and continents

overwhelmed by the blossoming breeze

with a poem on the lips, memories in the eyes, marks on the soul

 

spring is preserved in the hearts

through all seasons

throughout the years and decades

Throughout all our life spring remains

eternal reminder of unstoppable hope

 

Seeds Of Peace

 

In the ceasefires

I plant at the four corners of the horizon

where the blood of my brothers blackens in the sun

seeds of peace.

 

In the ceasefires I light candles

to light the paths of the spirit

traced and lived by Gandhi.

 

In the ceasefires I open the door to strangers

to come and share bread, water, roses.

In the ceasefires I build with my hands

the dreams of children

of the whole world.

 

In the ceasefires I touch

the hearts of those around me

to erase the pain of the past,

to join together to become a circle

To become dance, joy, song.

 

In the ceasefires I plant

The seeds of my lyrics

To speak in the tongues of the world

to become an eternal hymn for peace

 

Unexpected Collection

(Dedicated to my beautiful and talented daughter Anna)

 

I collected

sun, mountain and seas

from the universe

to make your dowry.

 

I went to talk to the nights

so that the stars will write your future bright.

I sat down to hear the sound of the flowers

the colours of the birds

so that your life will be full of beautiful shades

 

But when I heard

the sound of your microscopic heart

my life was filled with

music, colours and light.

 

XANTHI HONDROU-HILL

 

XANTHI HONDROU-HILL: Xanthi Hondrou-Hill has studied German and English Literature, Linguistics, Journalism and Public Relations Management in Germany. She has worked as Public Relations Manager at the Greek Consulate in Stuttgart, as teacher for German, Greek and English and is translating poetry from and to all three languages. She is an award-winning Greek poetess who gained international recognition. She is writing poetry since high school and her poems have been published in many international prestigious media and anthologies around the world. She has won in 2022 the first prize at the Gandhian Global Harmony Association and many awards in China, Ukraine, Philippines and Equator. She has been nominated as one of the 30 Stars worldwide in India. She is cultural Ambassador for OXYGEN PEN Sri Lanka, NAMASTE magazine in India and editor for poetry columns at www.faretra.info in Greece and HUMANITY in Russia, as well as co-editor for the international poetry magazine in China. Selections of her poetry have been translated into Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Slavic as well as in two Languages of India: Hindi and Bengali.

 


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