Have you ever wondered what a Byzantine civil servant did on a slow
Wednesday morning in the third century AD?
Wrote poems.
Some things don't change.
Paulus Silentarius (Paul the Usher):
from The Greek Anthology, Book V, No. 264
Sod that bald patch fringed
with grey, and leaky eyes --
I'm 25 inside.
I blame you, my wrack of love:
scabs on the scars your kitten-claws carved.
I'm gutted with insomnia, double-
chinned before my time.
Your fault:
the more I love you, the faster
I use up my store of days.
But change your pretty mind, say
"Yes," and in a moment
I'll be tall smart and handsome
&
25 once more.
Tr. Robin Hamilton
24/08/05
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