ext_137302 ([identity profile] aquamarcia.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] greatpoetry2023-12-01 08:53 pm

120 Years Ago

December, 1903

And if I cannot speak about my love—
if I do not talk about your hair, your lips, your eyes,
still your face that I keep within my heart,
the sound of your voice that I keep within my mind,
the days of September that rise in my dreams,
give shape and color to my words, my sentences,
whatever theme I touch, whatever thought I utter.

by Constantine Cavafy, trans. Edmund Keeley/Philip Sherrard