The Cain question has not been settled yet, Some say that he did not kill his brother and now, a marked man for the rest of eternity, wanders in the melancholy lands of the Continents that the door might shut on the step and the heart on the visit. Others contend that he didn't kill his brother but wanders, a marked man from generation to generation in the twilight of unexplored continents that the superstitious might heed the messages of dreams that the faithful God, fear, and the knife. Yet others say that seed of both beliefs sprouts in Fate's own courtyard, opening out to monstrous sunflower night that drips a yellow bitter moon on the landscapes of the Continents, where Cain does evil because he has Abel for a brother. This school of thought has many followers, amongst whom the undecided poet.
II Abel
But I who know the truth say nothing. Not that Hades will have numbed me in the pallid asphodel fields: those whom God protects are left untouched by such degeneration, gathering measure of rust and silence, inheritance tax on the bridges of memory. My brother Cain lives in the tumult of the waters and reigns in the assembly of the winds. Impeccable each morning he hurries past my garden's rare wonders and beyond the foliage, the after-rain birds, the droplet fringes iridescing in the brilliance of colour he passes again at five in the afternoon beside the loveliest girl in the neighborhood. And lo, I with my lamp-oil folding the night back into the headquarters of thunder, and in the thickets of my knowledge, soft-footed leopard he, proud in the glory of his youth, lit up by the lovely woman. No, Cain would never stoop to stealing crumbs out of the sparrow's mouth. You don't take a knife to your brother for nothing.
A DIPTYCH
ReplyDeleteI Cain
The Cain question has not been settled yet,
Some say that he did not kill his brother
and now, a marked man for the rest of eternity,
wanders in the melancholy lands of the Continents
that the door might shut on the step and the heart on the visit.
Others contend that he didn't kill his brother
but wanders, a marked man from generation to generation
in the twilight of unexplored continents
that the superstitious might heed the messages of dreams
that the faithful God, fear, and the knife.
Yet others say that seed of both beliefs
sprouts in Fate's own courtyard,
opening out to monstrous sunflower night
that drips a yellow bitter moon
on the landscapes of the Continents, where Cain does evil
because he has Abel for a brother.
This school of thought has many followers,
amongst whom the undecided poet.
II Abel
But I who know the truth say nothing.
Not that Hades will have numbed me
in the pallid asphodel fields: those whom God protects
are left untouched by such degeneration,
gathering measure of rust and silence, inheritance tax
on the bridges of memory. My brother Cain
lives in the tumult of the waters and reigns in the assembly
of the winds. Impeccable each morning
he hurries past my garden's rare wonders
and beyond the foliage, the after-rain birds,
the droplet fringes iridescing in the brilliance of colour
he passes again at five in the afternoon
beside the loveliest girl in the neighborhood. And lo,
I with my lamp-oil folding the night back
into the headquarters of thunder, and in the thickets
of my knowledge, soft-footed leopard he, proud
in the glory of his youth, lit up by the lovely woman.
No, Cain would never stoop to stealing crumbs
out of the sparrow's mouth. You don't
take a knife to your brother for nothing.
-- Dmitris Tsaloumas