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Vernal Equinox
Vernal Equinox
Vernal Equinox
Ebook147 pages21 minutes

Vernal Equinox

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n Vernal Equinox, his third volume of poetry from Ekstasis, the Greek emigre poet Manolis is at his most intimately eloquent and passionately exuberant. As with Ovid, as with Neruda, the quotidian and the ordinary is transcended by Eros. The poems in this volume are taut, lyrical and informed by a powerful and subtle music, infused by un-sentimental directness and sensual precision. Working within the domain of consciously reduced perceptions, Manolis pushes language to its outer edge, locating the sayable within the shifting tumult of the real. Moment to moment the poems move through the world, rooted in a dark radiance and a luminous energy, charged with sensuality and grace. In the deep ground of being, love is woven through all life, and amorous love is but the tip of a powerful emotion—at the heart’s core, remains the mysteries of erotic love to which we all owe our existence. Vernal Equinox is an honest and expansive expression, linked by passages from Lorca, but imbued by a singular voice that is both candid and instinctive.

Book of tenderness, Vernal Equinox is also the Adam’s apple mythology whirling in the eyes of the far away lover, the body’s appeal, desire and ardency, which are the unavoidable delight of carnal fire. Eloquent and sensitive, the poetry subjects crossing the pages of this book are vivid metaphors of beauty, poems of a lifetime. I mean: of a mature poet giving to the world a transcendent memory of the senses on its purest form.
- Eduardo Bettencourt Pinto

LanguageEnglish
Release dateFeb 25, 2012
ISBN9781465808967
Vernal Equinox
Author

Manolis

Manolis (Emmanuel Aligizakis) is a Cretan-Canadian poet and author. He’s the most prolific writer-poet of the Greek diaspora. At the age of eleven he transcribed the nearly 500 year old romantic poem Erotokritos, now released in a limited edition of 100 numbered copies and made available for collectors of such rare books at 5,000 dollars Canadian: the most expensive book of its kind to this day. He was recently appointed an honorary instructor and fellow of the International Arts Academy, and awarded a Master’s for the Arts in Literature. He is recognized for his ability to convey images and thoughts in a rich and evocative way that tugs at something deep within the reader. Born in the village of Kolibari on the island of Crete in 1947, he moved with his family at a young age to Thessaloniki and then to Athens, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Sciences from the Panteion University of Athens. After graduation, he served in the armed forces for two years and emigrated to Vancouver in 1973, where he worked as an iron worker, train labourer, taxi driver, and stock broker, and studied English Literature at Simon Fraser University. He has written three novels and numerous collections of poetry, which are steadily being released as published works. His articles, poems and short stories in both Greek and English have appeared in various magazines and newspapers in Canada, United States, Sweden, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Australia, Jordan, Serbia and Greece. His poetry has been translated into Spanish, Romanian, Swedish, German, Hungarian, Ukrainian, French, Portuguese, Arabic, Turkish, Serbian, Russian, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, languages and has been published in book form or in magazines in various countries. He now lives in White Rock, where he spends his time writing, gardening, traveling, and heading Libros Libertad, an unorthodox and independent publishing company which he founded in 2006 with the mission of publishing literary books. His translation book “George Seferis-Collected Poems” was shortlisted for the Greek National Literary Awards the highest literary recognition of Greece. In September 2017 he was awarded the First Poetry Prize of the Mihai Eminescu International Poetry Festival, in Craiova, Romania.

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    Of the collections of poetry by Manolis that I’ve read and enjoyed, Vernal Equinox is by far the most romantic and, shall we say, the steamiest of his works. Perhaps the Greek mythological god Eros had an influence on this set of verses, although they wouldn’t necessarily be considered erotic. It’s said of Eros that “his quality of love was thought to be spiritual as well as physical, and was generally believed to be the deity who caused the love of beauty, healing, freedom, and many other good things as well as the love between people” (1). The Romans called him Cupid, and he was known for his quiver of arrows that struck often at random.What is created in Vernal Equinox goes beyond just passion…this is no Harlequin poetry selection. Instead, the focus is on the feelings of both solitude and space that affection fills. The grace of companionship through difficulties, and the familiar grasp of a hand that soothes after a nightmare. The Church is a frequent character in the poems, sometimes as setting and other times as a foil to the romance it seems to hamper. If anything, Manolis seems to contrast the pomp and drama of “grandiose” Church philosophies with the simplicity of tangible human affection. The addition of love changes the geography of the world in which we live, he seems to suggest.In “New Dusk”,In the streets we built For our future encounter andOur little talks at twilightWe’ll construct new signpostsAnd erect small statuettesOpposite a descending sunA poet of the insignificantWe’ll anoint our new saintWhile you and I bestow benevolenceOnto this city with her grandiose churchesAnd the grieving priest shedding false tearsAuthentic affection isn’t easy to find, as lamented in some of the poems. It often disappears without a trace, or misses its mark. In one poem, “Peeling,” a lonely woman prepares a beautiful feast for her husband, craving just a bit of appreciation and affection. Yet his hockey game on television is where his heart is focused. In “Ambience,” the sense of transitory affection propels the words so descriptively you can sense the couple inevitably being torn apart:Ambient solace of yourEmbrace where I seek refugeYour fingerprints tangleMy beard into rolled anguishStay—stay with this a while don’tDisturb equanimity ofReddish dusk or let a lonely cloudCover this serenity or allow yourDay’s anxiety to hide behindOur desired meditation on thisMoment in your arms and don’tLet it go for evenAn infinitesimal fraction ofTime frozen or fieryThe juxtaposition of frozen and fiery in the final line seems to allude to heaven and hell, and cements the idea that this romance is purely earthly, and that neither participant wishes to move beyond any imagined heavenly reward or hellish punishment. Incidentally, I was curious why Manolis wrote “a while”’ and not “awhile” in the third stanza, and if it was significant. It turns out that yes, it does mean something: ‘a while’ is a noun meaning a period of time. This usage underlines the ephemeral nature of the intimacy between these two lovers (2).Lastly, in “Search,” the contrast of harsh light with comforting shadow reinforces the nature of seductive affection and how we even see differently when we are in love.That you always search in dark cornersBelieving you know what you seekThat you always yearn for a shadowTo help you pass unnoticed by moonlightBeyond arm’s reach of your lustful appetiteAnd try to conceal your eyes behind sunglasses thoughYou can’t fail to be stunned by sunshine stillOnly harsh light without him by your sideThe title Vernal Equinox is most appropriate for such an assemblage of poems. It’s said that conception increases dramatically on the date of the vernal equinox (3). Perhaps it’s just a myth, but the concepts of rejuvenation and rebirth are linked to that date that begins Spring. Day and night are equal on the date of the equinox, which happens only twice a year.

Book preview

Vernal Equinox - Manolis

Scandalous

He stops shaving razor floating in air

hand absentmindedly creates a circle in mid-void

like a bird stilled by camera lens

her scandalous vulva visits his mind

from days of that August

on the scorched island

in low tone siesta

in muffled moaning

lest the mirror would crack from tension in the cool soothing room before his eyes

finger in circular motion of agony

swirling eroticism

higher and higher

near a shuddering apex

wind pandemonium

lust and a red colored

Lucifer laughs sardonically

as the razor touches his flesh

opening it

like hers

color reddish

Momentum

Silence stuck on the skin like a wound

hitting high notes across the room

pitching high balls amid my temples

letting havoc come over length

and girth of your indecision

as I near your body

with a soft feathery song

that resembles an ancient chant

left unanswered

ever virgin Aphrodite frowns

wonder underarm kept time

clock sounded the commencement

of Vernal Equinox as I discerned

from across the fence

another faint chirp calling

Lamppost

After leaving our marks

on the sole lamppost

we parted

she to the west

I to the east

with a promise

to meet again

by this lamppost

and trace our marks

though we never thought of the Sirens

the Cyclops and the angry Poseidon

though we never thought of the pricey

ferryman

Triangle

In the crystal night I'll find you

again in the plaza by the same

statue who saw us separating

that cold October morning

you to the west I to the east

from the merging point

of two lives like triangle

lines and I'll come to you

holding a book in my left

hand and a carnation in the

other just in case you come

looking to stir my emotions

just in case you come yearning

for kisses like that cold

October morning we separated

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