THE SUMMIT 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 SUMMIT

In the frozen wastes of Antarctica

the only thing lacking
was the Sun...
which was found in excess
only in the Sahara Desert.

In the heat and aridity of the Sahara
the only thing lacking was...
an Oasis
which was found in excess
only in the Amazon rain-forests.

Immersed in the Amazon Oasis
the only thing lacking
was the Summit...
which was found in excess
only in the Himalayan Mountains.

Now that I've reached the highest summit
in the Himalayas
I see that you can't dream of
anything higher than this...

On the Summit
the security and serenity
are so soothing and undisturbed
that I could literally
die of Loneliness...


So for that reason..
since I want to live
the only solution is descent..

Translation by  PHILIP RAMP