happy & alone
with golden & toddlers
I live in a villa one step up from
a chicken house — the droppings & straw
we shovel out the first morning
windows without glass
cistern to hang cold food in
a new trench dug weekly
to shit in behind the house
Diogenes, a dog tied to a rope
shelters in an urn knocked over
my dog avoids Diogenes as if
it were Damocles — mind the sword
a book to write in, no books to read
we walk down the hill
to a table under a tree, the men
ranged round try German
syllables learned in the war
their wide eyes, their confusion
what am I? woman alone
with children, they want to know
where is your man? I have none
shake my head & smile
I want eggs
they don’t know German for egg
I don’t know Greek, I draw, mime
we struggle together — avgó —
they laugh & laugh
one calls to the open door
behind him, a woman all
in black, also amazed, brings me eggs
suggests a lemon, a carton of milk
I fumble coins, she takes a few
glowers at the gaping men
shames them to look away
points to the children, points
to me, yes, I say, nodding twice
next time they call her right away
the sun turns us gold
we wash in cold water
eat fresh-picked figs all day
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