The Brazen Plagiarist:

Selected Poems
KIKI DIMOULA

TRANSLATED BY
CECILE INGLESSIS MARGELLOS
AND RIKA LESSER

YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW HAVEN & LONDON

A MARGELLOS
WOR L D R E P U B L I C O F L E T T E R S B O O K

The Margellos World Republic of Letters is dedicated to making literary works from around
the globe available in English through translation. It brings to the English-speaking world the
work of leading poets, novelists, essayists, philosophers, and playwrights from Europe, Latin
America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East to stimulate international discourse and creative
exchange.
Copyright 2012 by Yale University. English translations copyright 2012 by Cecile Inglessis
Margellos and Rika Lesser. The Somatics of Semantics 2012 by Rika Lesser. Greek poems
originally appeared in the following collections: (1998), 1998, 1999, 2002,
2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011 by Kiki Dimoula and Ikaros Publishing Company;
(1998), 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2010 by Kiki Dimoula and
Ikaros Publishing Company; H A (2001), 2001, 2002, 2005,
2009 by Kiki Dimoula and Ikaros Publishing Company; O I (2005),
2005, 2006 by Kiki Dimoula and Ikaros Publishing Company;
(2007), 2007, 2008 by Kiki Dimoula and Ikaros Publishing Company;
(2010), 2010, 2011 by Kiki Dimoula and Ikaros Publishing Company.
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Demoula, Kike.
[Poems. English. Selections]
The brazen plagiarist : selected poems / Kiki Dimoula ; translated by Cecile Inglessis
Margellos and Rika Lesser. 1st ed.
p. cm. (Margellos World Republic of Letters)
A Margellos World Republic of Letters book.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978- 0-300-14139- 9 (alk. paper)
I. Margellos, Cecile Inglessis, 1953II. Lesser, Rika.III. Title.
PA5615.E474A22012
889.134dc23
2012019119
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.481992 (Permanence of Paper).
10987654321

"The Brazen Plagiarist," by Kiki Dimoula; translated by Cecile Inglessis Margellos and Rika Lesser

44

,
,
,
,
,
.

.
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,

:
.

.
,
,
,

.
, , .
,
,
,

Copyright 2012 by Yale University

"The Brazen Plagiarist," by Kiki Dimoula; translated by Cecile Inglessis Margellos and Rika Lesser

The Little of the World 45

THE PLURAL

Love:
noun, substantive,
extremely substantive,
singular in number;
gender not feminine, not masculine,
gender defenseless.
Plural the number
of defenseless loves.
Fear:
substantive,
singular to start with
plural afterward:
fears.
Fears of
everything from now on.
Memory:
noun, proper name for sorrows,
singular in number,
singular only,
and indeclinable.
Memory, memory, memory.
Night:
substantive,
gender feminine,

Copyright 2012 by Yale University

"The Brazen Plagiarist," by Kiki Dimoula; translated by Cecile Inglessis Margellos and Rika Lesser

46

.

.
.

Copyright 2012 by Yale University

"The Brazen Plagiarist," by Kiki Dimoula; translated by Cecile Inglessis Margellos and Rika Lesser

The Little of the World 47

number singular.
Plural in number
the nights.
The nights from now on.

Copyright 2012 by Yale University

"The Brazen Plagiarist," by Kiki Dimoula; translated by Cecile Inglessis Margellos and Rika Lesser

126

.
,
.

,

,
.
. .
.
.
.


.
,
,

Copyright 2012 by Yale University

"The Brazen Plagiarist," by Kiki Dimoula; translated by Cecile Inglessis Margellos and Rika Lesser

Hail Never 127

BREAKING INTO AN ILLUSION

And somewhere in the middle of the night

an all-night drugstore
shimmered.
Sir, give me a sleeping pill
so the desert out there gets some sleep.
And while the pharmacist
unfolded from his drowsiness, I admired
the equality of ailments on the shelves,
incurable and curable, all
in brightly colored, cheerful little boxes.
And suddenly I recognized you. In isolation.
Up there; where only fears eye could catch you.
Charonography: a poison bottles label.
Unrecognizable your lethal figure stripped bare.
Your hands formed a threats crossed X
on that innocent spot
where your neck once nonchalantly dreamed.
Sir, I screamed,
while I shook the ailments on the shelves,
what horrid mistakes are these,
how can you administer to the dead
additional doses of poison with no new

Copyright 2012 by Yale University

"The Brazen Plagiarist," by Kiki Dimoula; translated by Cecile Inglessis Margellos and Rika Lesser

128

; ,
,


;
.
, ,

.

Copyright 2012 by Yale University

"The Brazen Plagiarist," by Kiki Dimoula; translated by Cecile Inglessis Margellos and Rika Lesser

Hail Never 129

prescription and no divine will? How dare you,

just to advertise drastic Charonic products,
rip the bones out of figures weve struggled hard
to keep drastically whole
in vials of sealed illusion?
Return the original to me immediately.
I understand, the pharmacist said, but
no error will be acknowledged
after leaving the counter.

Copyright 2012 by Yale University

"The Brazen Plagiarist," by Kiki Dimoula; translated by Cecile Inglessis Margellos and Rika Lesser

282

Copyright 2012 by Yale University

"The Brazen Plagiarist," by Kiki Dimoula; translated by Cecile Inglessis Margellos and Rika Lesser

The Finders Reward 283

THE BRAZEN PLAGIARIST

Of the unremitting civil war

between existing and ceasing to
between speaking and ceasing to
finally
the only winner is
that famous war correspondent
writing.
A brazen unholy plagiarist
it copies
both speaking and ceasing to exist
expertly forged as
lasting
in the papers closemouthed ear.

Copyright 2012 by Yale University