1. Burial Pithos
Lipped curve of a pithos
in the Agora museum
opens like a cervix
on an infant's bones -
skull stained to old ivory,
smooth as a Byzantine dome,
poised as for deliverance
from the cold clay womb.
2. Torso
Hoisted high
above the site
that housed a Roman
concert-hall,
torso of a youth,
long-thighed, slackened
as if crucified.
3. Evening
Smog clouds congregate
in dusk
above the lapis hills
like muslin;
smudges of discoloured snow
atrophy as suburbs.
4. Chatelaine
Silver-haired Kleanthi passes
up and down the broken stairs,
trailing her dishevelled gown
on terraces of trees.
Kleanthi of the many mansions
can't remember what she seeks;
neighbours say her family
were Smyrna refugees.
In her Turkoman caftan,
lingering in corridors
Kleanthi is bemused by locks
clenched tight against her keys.
5. Old Woman
All the hustlers are out
and running,
but the hag stands still,
stares me in the eye
and spits on grimy asphalt
near her barrow.
Too many foreigners
have aimed a careless
camera lens at her -
when she was
a beauty, a young courtesan,
she loved us well.