Her eyes were filled with tears

                      

A gentle soul

   As our boat departed,

                [after many days of repairs,

    Penya's eyes were filled with tears...

    Three weeks before,
                              [the tanker "Lady Cleo"
    crashed into our ship,
                          [fifty miles outside of Rio.

    Two large tugboats towed us to the pier
    and the fact that our ship
            [needed major repairs, it was clear..

    An extended stay in Rio de Janeiro,
                                                      [a real gift.

    A crowd of girls who looked
                                      [like population shift,
    swarmed the boat
                               [from the stern to the bow.
    It was incredible,
      [the sailors were constantly saying, "wow".

    A crowd of very poor girls
                                    [from the favelas most,
    ready to sell their love,
                         [of which no one would boast.
                       _______________

What first caught my attention was her voice.
and this was the main reason for my choice !

It was Penya, not a girl from Ipanema, 
                                                  [but from the favelas....
A royal beauty she was, but of the shack dwellers, 
                                                           [not the palace,
a prostitute with extremely gentle soul....

For twenty days we did not apart, 
      [whole days and nights, yes whole.

I asked for a five-day leave,
                      [and we left together on a tour.
The modernist architecture of Brasilia,
                                  [the capital, was a lure.

We traveled one thousand five hundred miles, 
                                                     [coming and going,
straight line distance, 1200 miles,
                                        [if we had been on a Boing.

                     __________________

     
On the day on which
                         [the ship was leaving
I gave her a huge amount believing
that this was what she wanted
                                         [from me more.
I thought as everyone would think
                                              [for a whore.

"When I heard "anchor aweigh"
                                   [and the "engines full ahead",
jaded I returned to my cabin to sleep in my bed.

The golden chain from her neck
                                   [was in the same drawer
with all the money that I gave to her
                                                    [shortly before...




* A gentle soul..... What comes to mind when I think of a gentle soul is someone who has no malice, wishes no ill-will on anyone, who is respectful and mindful of other people's feelings and is sensitive to the needs of others.

____________________________________________________

*Extract from "The Broken Mooring Line", an experiential
poetic work // page c 58// e-mail: pmataragas@yahoo.com //
Texts and Narration: Odysseus Heavilayias - ROTTERDAM //
Language adjustments and text adaptation: Kellene G Safis - CHICAGO//
Digital adaptation and text editing: Cathy Rapakoulia Mataraga - PIRAEUS//

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  the tales of a greek sailor