XANTHI HONDROU-HILL

 

Singing For The Earth

 

To sing for you,

is like asking a child to sing to his dying mother

...for his hometown, his identity...

We humans used you and abused you.

 

We, the army of salvation.

We, the army of destruction.

We eat you inside out.

We, the ever hungry for more

always thirsty for victory.

against all odds

 

with fertilizers and sprays...

chasing you away

away from the paths of nature

they chase after your creatures and your legends.

Your melodies are lost in the veins of progress.

We conquered the earth first.

then the water, now the air. 

We carved our names in the age of stone.

But we have lost simplicity.

And we don't want to find our way back.

To make peace with you.

 

To sing for you

To sing with you

It means we know that eternity

survives without us.

 

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

 

Digital Reality

 

I look into my sustainable development

As I decay in the lock down...

 

The nature and my nature

Suppressed

And replaced

With green technology

 

I have reduced my raw material requirements

I no longer send things or touch anything

And no one.

I live with the promise of longevity

But with the necessary protection

Of personal responsibility.

I pop in to digital presentations

And salon talks from my living room...

 

I am absent at weddings, baptisms and funerals

...Always in compliance with legal requirements...

I do not provide assistance,

Because the needy kill the helpers.

 

I do not move

I am stuck on a hyphen

Between immunity and health.

 

On my short commutes

for personal exercises

I exist as an interested customer

As a representative number

Of political editors

As an uncertainty

In a digital future...

 

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.