The sea folded a sailor into her deep. His mother —how could she know?— goes and lights before the Virgin, at her icon, a tall candle for his quick return and for kind skies— one ear listing always to the wind. She prays. She implores. Meanwhile the likeness listens, solemn and in sorrow, knowing he will never come, her longed-for son.
Personal and ongoing translation project – another English take on Cavafy (to add to the countless many). Translated for the love of it.
Choice of English words inevitably affected by the music of Lena Platonos, the voice of Yiannis Palamidas, and the visuals of Dimitris Papaioannou, from their 2010 staged work K.K. featuring thirteen poems by Constantine Cavafy.
Dimitris shot and edited this footage, setting three silhouettes (dressed in black, top to toe) against the sea, alongside an arm (mechanical) desperately plunging the depths.
Consider “listing ⋮ sorrow” alongside two other dubitanda – “agleam ⋮ bereft” and “whisper ⋮ waves” – to find three figures calling out to various seas (Aegean, Caspian, otherworldly), aching for loves (child or parent or spouse) beyond reach.
A triptych of longing (via Kitsopoulou and Cavafy and Səfərli):
waiting this whole night through… one ear listing always to the wind… whisper it, whisper, oh waves…
These three translations informed one another (you can spot the ways).
