AGRADINI
Argadini!”[1]
yelled the blond boy
of Albanian nationality
at the ship dock
in the city called Thessaloniki.
Alexandros, the famous dying poet,
wrote these words in his notebook and handed
the boy a bundle of banknotes.
He paid for words…
“Argadini….”* repeated the old poet
and the snow-covered mountains of Northern Epirus
appeared in front of his eyes.
The blond boy looked at the ships leaving
and he regretted his dead friend.
“Hey, Selim. I’m scared, the sea
is so big.
Everything that I see now is the sea,
the endless sea.
I dreamt of my mother last night, standing at
our gate, crying.
It was Christmas. The bells rang,
the snow fell on the mountain.
Hey, Selim.
Hey, Selim!”
p;
1.Argadini – a very rare and old Greek word which is used in the villages in the Northern Epirus region and has a double meaning: “very late” and “deep in the night”.