After Cavafy
(αγγλική μετάφραση του ποιήματος «Τεχνουργός Κρατήρων» του Κ.Π.Καβάφη)
On this winebowl beaten from the purest silver,
Made for Heirakleides’ white – walled home
Where everything declares his perfect taste –
I’ve placed a flowering olive and a river,
And at its heart , a beautiful young man
Who will let the water cool his naked foot
Forever. O memory: I prayed to you
That I might make his face just as it was,
What a labour that turned out to be
He fell in Lydia fifteen years ago.