THE LAST OF HOMER Poem by ILIAS FOUKIS

BIOGRAPHY

The Greek poet ILIAS FOUKIS , was born on 20 August 1969 in Epirus in northwestern Greece. Began to write poetry since 1988 when he was student in the Lyceum. Published volume of poetry THE TESTAMENT OF A LESSER GOD , which has been translated into ten languages including English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, etc.. Has won literary awards - OSCAR DE DOS OURO VENCEDORES, Brazil 2012 - MASSIMO D'AZEGLIO, Italy, 2012, 2013 - CITA DEL GALATEO, Italy in 2013. MASSIMO D;AZEGLIO 2016. His poem titled YOUNG GREEK SOLITARY was included in Poetry Anthology - U.S. Library of Congress. Works and lives in Athens.

THE LAST OF HOMER


Today the season called autumn begins. 


As the leaves began to fall
and me an Old Man
my thoughts also began to fall
and I would like to speak this once
to autumn -- about autumn. 


It doesn't continue on from here... 


I am abandoned, one after the other,
like the World
by the Grand hallucinations of Genesis
the metaphors...
the allegories...
the symbols... 


They return to Greece with life
and leave me with death in Troy. 


That is why I move along behind them
to see at long last one clean day
bringing thus this Epic to a definitive close
and with Classical diction find a measure of happiness
because Happiness is the Divine Cause
even for its own Beginning.



But I'm afraid
that for the Modern critics of the Future
to whom
autumn may arrive
as eternal dark
my words about autumn -- to autumn
as if nothing was going on
might then be incorporated into a chapter
of the Iliad or the Odyssey
and thus its better if... I grow still.


Translation by  PHILIP  RAMP