I can’t tell you
I can’t tell you
How much you hurt me,
How I longed for freedom,
The terrible magic of Crete.
I got as far as Rhodes and failed.
That much I will now admit.

There were stars there. Red wine.
The sea deep and dark as life.
Kristina naked in the waves.
Philosophs rambling on a roof.
A kiss proffered and not accepted.
That is where I left things.
Halting, incomplete. A word half-said.

You know there are pages in life
That will not pleat, will not fold,
And time that will not pass away.
I made a deal with myself
To forget them but thus far have failed.
Nor can I forget you, Nikos.
I have kissed you. It won’t be undone.

//For Nikos//