Confession Of An Angel

(An antiwar poem dedicated to all angels lost in vain)

Black birds unfold their shrieks.

Warning of solitude and death in a place 

Where dawn is always dark.

Naked hands wash death in the river.

So white they are, so innocent...

Like bloomed lilies in the river banks 

That leaned forward to kiss 

The dead bodies of the Angels that doll its waters.

They spew wars out in the seas of the silver bullet. 

A journey full of tears in the delta of hell.

Hawks spread their wings.

Their shadow buried love in the caves.

Swallowed children’s laughter.

Mother stands in the rain.

She is holding the Spring flower. 

Too soon, it was picked.

Her eyes, black oceans full of sunken worlds.

Her three-year old boy, 

Wiser from the pain and curse of its people, 

Touched eternity.

His words like Bethlehem stars that will never set.

Loud in her ears, slowly, painfully, 

Curve the mind and uproot the body. 

The soul kneels in front of their Holy gaze. 

‘’Mama, when I go up, I will tell everything to God’’.

The miracle yielded. 

Translation: Dora Douva

MARTHA VASKANDIRA

MARTHA VASKANTIRA was born in 02/09/1977 in Greece, in the city of Patras. She studied Philology and Philosophy at the University of Patras. She is involved in theater and music. She is distantly related to the poet Miltiadis Malakasis. She appeared in letters in the year 1996 with the publication of poems in literary magazines. A total of ten of her books have been published. The poetry collections: My Young Thoughts'' editions Publications About the Arts, ''Good night'', editions ''Gavrielidis'', ''Apologismos'' editions ''P. Koulis'', collective poetry work ''Writing Works'', Orionas publications, ''Troian Horse'' and the theatrical-poetic monologues ''Peace'' from Kouros publications. Four fairy tales, "Dahlia" and "The Ice Santa Claus" from the publications "Koulis", which were dramatized in Patras, "The Peach and the Fairy" and "My Best Friend" from the publications " "Kouros". Her poems have also been dramatized in performances by theater groups in Athens and Patras. She has been awarded in theater, song and poetry competitions. She is a member of the International Society of Greek Writers-Artists (D.E.E.L.), UNESCO of Greece, the Society of Greek Writers (E.E.L.), the Greek Cypriot Cultural Group (E.P.O.K.) as well as representative of the group in the city of Patras, of the "Organization of Young Artists" and special secretary of the "Society of Writers of Southwest Greece". She has written and directed three plays. In September 2022, she won first prize for writing the theatrical monologue "Peace and the Child" at the International Peace Cultural Olympiad held in Delphi. In the performance "The children of Greece" which was presented in many cities of Greece and concerns the life and work of the great creators and artists, Mimi Traiforou-Sofias Vembo, the one-act play by Martha Vaskantira entitled "The child and the peace''. The direction is by Vassilis Traiforos and Penelope Chalkia. The monologue was performed by Penelope Halkia. In December 2022, the theater department of the Polyphonic Choir of Patras, directed by Mrs. Athena Kallimani, who dramatized and directed the fairy tale of "Santa Claus of Ice", will stage it in a performance at the Pammikrasiatiko theater in Patras. The Soroptimist women's association "Danielis" included her own work in a related event, which it held for the women Logotechnides of Patras. Some of her poems have been translated into English, Spanish and Turkish. Her poems are included in Poetry anthologies and Cultural Magazines in several countries abroad. In 2022, the newspaper "Peloponnisos" proposed her to be a candidate for the persons of the year 2022.