ALEXANDRIA

“…listen—your final delectation—to the voices,
to the exquisite music of that strange procession,
and say goodbye to her, to the Alexandria you are losing.”

The God Abandons Antony – C.P. Cavafy

Yes, I hear…
Yes, I’m losing Alexandria.
But who from the alive might say
it’s mine
him himself, if not immortal.
A town of the cross
between East and
the West
rich of gold,
sand,
tears.
Fear.
To run? To hide?
To turn from Alexandria?
You, who all your life
have been travelling towards her.
I’ve been ready for a time
(since last summer)
to meet Octavian
even though I know, it’s vanity.
Empty hope
it’s to beg the powerful
because you’re so brave –
you, the mortal.
At a night hour,
like the last joy, I listen to the sounds,
the wonderful melody of a mystic procession.
No,
God didn’t abandon
Antony.

He abandoned Alexandria.

Bozhidar Pangelov
Translator from Bulgarian: Liliya Cauchi
Picture Nick Victor

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