Autumn Leaves

By Manolis

Like the song, Autumn Leaves is about longing and desire: the passing seasons, as summer turns into winter, permeate these lyrics with a finely tuned eloquence. Vibrant and radiant, the poems are inspired by a powerful and subtle music, becoming deeply embedded beneath the skin. Manolis, a prolific poet, possesses a distinctly Mediterranean flavour, as would a poet schooled on Cavafy or Elytis: aromatic, tangy, like freshness of an olive grove in the morning. The poems revel in the vitality of the sensuous motion of language on a sea of thought. In the fervid expression of Autumn Leaves Manolis forges a cogent alloy of mind and heart, flesh and spirit. Originally written in Greek, Autumn Leaves is presented in an elegant en face edition.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Libros Libertad Publishing
• Release date: Nov 13, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311657251

Manolis

Manolis (Emmanuel Aligizakis) is a Cretan-Canadian poet and author. He’s the most prolific writer-poet of the Greek diaspora. At the age of eleven he transcribed the nearly 500 year old romantic poem Erotokritos, now released in a limited edition of 100 numbered copies and made available for collectors of such rare books at 5,000 dollars Canadian: the most expensive book of its kind to this day. He was recently appointed an honorary instructor and fellow of the International Arts Academy, and awarded a Master’s for the Arts in Literature. He is recognized for his ability to convey images and thoughts in a rich and evocative way that tugs at something deep within the reader. Born in the village of Kolibari on the island of Crete in 1947, he moved with his family at a young age to Thessaloniki and then to Athens, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Sciences from the Panteion University of Athens. After graduation, he served in the armed forces for two years and emigrated to Vancouver in 1973, where he worked as an iron worker, train labourer, taxi driver, and stock broker, and studied English Literature at Simon Fraser University. He has written three novels and numerous collections of poetry, which are steadily being released as published works. His articles, poems and short stories in both Greek and English have appeared in various magazines and newspapers in Canada, United States, Sweden, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Australia, Jordan, Serbia and Greece. His poetry has been translated into Spanish, Romanian, Swedish, German, Hungarian, Ukrainian, French, Portuguese, Arabic, Turkish, Serbian, Russian, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, languages and has been published in book form or in magazines in various countries. He now lives in White Rock, where he spends his time writing, gardening, traveling, and heading Libros Libertad, an unorthodox and independent publishing company which he founded in 2006 with the mission of publishing literary books. His translation book “George Seferis-Collected Poems” was shortlisted for the Greek National Literary Awards the highest literary recognition of Greece. In September 2017 he was awarded the First Poetry Prize of the Mihai Eminescu International Poetry Festival, in Craiova, Romania.

Book preview

Autumn

In tree branches

rustle of leaves

definition of fall

soft landing

under my soles

secretly played game

grayish, foggy

October morning

prompts smile

anticipation

of fiery April

resurrection

philosophy of leaves

exegesis

harmony

purpose

Φθινοπωρο

Στα κλαδιά του δέντρου

θρόϊσμα φύλλων

προσδιορίζει

απαλή προσγείωση

κάτω απ’ τις σόλες μου

παιγνίδι γελαστό και κρύφιο

γκρίζο ομιχλώδες

πρωινό Οχτώβρη

που φέρνει

το χαμόγελο

αναμονή

φλογερού Απρίλη

νεκρανάσταση

φιλοσοφία φύλλων

εξήγηση

προορισμός

Αρμονία

Love Poem

Write a poem for me

you said

to talk of love

it’ll describe your lips

I said

their smile it will capture

their color it will accentuate

and I bowed in awe

as if before the statue

of naked Eros

Αγαπησ Ποιημα

Γράψε μου ένα ποίημα

είπες

που να μιλά γι’ αγάπη

τα χείλη σου θα περιγράφει

είπα

το χρώμα τους θα υπογραμίζει

θα συλλαμβάνει το γελάκι τους

κι έσκυψα με δέος περισσό

σα να `μουν μπρος στο άγαλμα

τ’ ολόγυμνο του Έρωτα

Transcendence

Your lips half opened

pair of nightingales

building their nest

heavenly songs

your words

play with the breeze

your lips half opened

warm and fiery

red and alluring

words that fly close and far

to reach my soul like

two birds that sing

of the contour shaped infinity

obscure and vague circle

forever indeterminable

and this the command

and this the obedience

and this the orgasm

and this the Eros

and this is you

Υπερβαση

Τα χείλη σου μισάνοιχτα

ζευγάρι αηδόνια

που χτίζουν τη φωλιά τους

τα λόγια σου τραγούδια

που παιγνιδίζουν με την αύρα

τα χείλη σου μισάνοιχτα

ζεστά κι όλο φωτιά

κόκκινα και ελκυστικά

λέξεις πετούν σιμά μακριά

και φτάνουν στην ψυχή μου

σαν δυο πουλιά που τραγουδούν

σε σχήμα κύκλου το άπειρο

αδιευκρίνιστο μηδέν

αιώνεια απροσδιόριστο

κι αυτό η διαταγή

κι αυτό η υποταγή

κι αυτό ο οργασμός

κι αυτό ο έρωτας

κι αυτό είσαι εσύ

Sin

Brazen thief

that leads my mind

to an erotic voyage

your nipple

ready to jump

over your bra and

standing with no skirt

before the mirror

you accentuate your eyes

upright virgin thought

my paradisiacal Inferno

with such fervor

that I long to sing

Αμαρτια

Ασύστολος κλέφτης

το νου μου που ταξιδεύει

σ΄ερωτικό ταξίδι,

η θηλή σου,

που να πηδήξει προσπαθεί

πάνω απ’ το στηθόδεσμό σου

κι εσύ μπρος στον καθρέφτη

με δίχως φούστα στέκεις

τη γραμμή των ματιών σου

να τονίσεις

ορθή παρθένα σκέψη

του παραδείσου μου φωτιά

που με λαχτάρα περισσή

να τραγουδήσω πεθυμώ

Icy Love

Erotic embrace

of crystalline ice

wand of the tree branch

that it won’t break it

that it won’t lose it

and in its endless love

it shrouds it

with the wings of death

and you hear them

dry creaks

cracked sighs

of pain and agony

like tears dripping

on the frozen street

Παγωμενη Αγαπη

Ερωτική περίπτυξη

κρύσταλου που αγκαλιάζει

δέντρου κλαδί

μην και του σπάσει

μην και το χάσει

κι απ’ την αγάπη

την πολλή

ο πάγος το σκεπάζει

με του θανάτου τα φτερά

κι ακούς ξερούς

και ραγισμένους στεναγμούς

πόνου και αγωνίας

κλαδιών που σπάζοντας

πέφτουν στον παγωμένο δρόμο

Justification

I strode over

fallen branches

victims of last night’s

merciless wind

listened to music in tune

with endless perfection

then the chirp of the bird

raised my head

saw it, a chickadee

on the tree limb

justification

this day

alive that I was

~Manolis Aligizakis

www.ekstasiseditions.com

[e-mail]

Δικαιωση

Δρασκέλισα πάνω

απ’ τα πεσμένα κλαδιά

θύματα δυνατού βοριά

νυχτερινού κι ανελέητου

η προσoχή μου μουσική

αδιάσπαστη ισορροπία

απλότητα κόσμου ζεστού

κι άκουσα πουλιού κελάϊδισμα

σήκωσα το κεφάλι

κι είδα μοναχικό

το μαυροπούλι

στου δέντρου το κλαδί

ήταν κι αυτό δικαίωση

τη μέρα τούτη

που υπήρχα

Amorphous

Before I entered the uterus

I was there

smoke of a fire slowly extinguishing

wind hitting your blue window

crack of your being, a tight grip

song of the funeral procession

before I took the shape of life

before I choose my name

I