Greece,
Your no is also a yes
To other things,
You spurned usurers
For Athens’ pride

Greece,
You stood through war
Resisted fascists,
Your poets wrote poems
On cigarette packs

Greece,
Your silences are oracles
Of time’s future,
With your aching hands
You fisted tables

You resisted the enemy
Greece,
You sabotaged
The plans of annexation
Burning bridges

Greece,
You let Marx sit on your
Stoic shoulders,
Your cynics defied kings
Trusted workers

Your history is a miracle
Greece,
You are a library
Of words that escaped fire
Survived Caesar

The world is in your debt
Greece,
They can’t repay
The wonders of your urns
And your verses

Today you brave penury
Greece,
With the grit
Of a working class poet
Who resisted

He left behind omens
On paper
They remain inscribed
In the eyes

“But perhaps dawn will reveal a new face”^[1]

Manash Bhattacharjee
July 10, 2015, Delhi

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