Halcyon
For Alan Ansen
O girls who sing so honey-sweet and true,
My dancing days are through,
My limbs don't have the strength to carry me.
If only I could be
A cerulean bird that flew
With the kingfishers over the bloom of the wave,
Heart unflinching, brave,
Spring's sacred bird, as purple as the sea.
Translated from the Ancient Greek by A.E. Stallings
Translator's Note
Not long after moving to Athens in 1999, I met Alan Ansen. A poet and ...