A REBÉTIKO FOR FRANS VAN HASSELT
this morning I stood in the empty kitchen
and cleared up things before I went away
there was half a bottle of olive oil left and 1 lemon
that is too much lemon
yorgos the cat jumped on the sill
and looked at me with amber-coloured eyes
an odourous fish head is the sweetest
the colours of the sky are the colours of the sea
and the rain vaporises before meeting the street
I didn’t finish the retsina bottle
I didn’t clean the knife from Crete
the bouzouki player sang: where does love go to when it disappears
and I hummed along with the soft melody
perhaps tonight Kim has gone dancing with that young man from the bar
perhaps at full moon although Greeks don’t care about that
there was half a bottle of virgin olive oil left and 1 lemon
that is too much lemon
where does love go to when she disappears
the gate does close the gateway not the look
Poet's Note: * Rebétiko: Greek folk song
** Frans van Hasselt is a Dutch journalist, born 1927, living in Athens. He is an authority on the rebétiko.