A moment of silence. A poem by Alexia Kalogeropoulou

A moment of silence

A moment of silence
for the human masses
that boarded once
on the trains
with etched skin
and then they disappeared
from visible
and invisible death machines.

A moment of silence
for the innocent
who are buried today
in holy lands.
For the children
of Palestine
who are looking for their mother
among the ruins
with crimson wounds
in the soul and the body.

A lifetime of silence
for the human suffering
that corrupted mouths are encouraging
from wealthy apartments,
and Pontius Pilate's silence allows.
They are not numbers, they are persons
like you and me.
And their life is sacred,
like yours.
Where did the memory of death go?

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Alexia Kalogeropoulou is a poet, author, and journalist. She has studied Psychology at The School of Philosophy of the University of Athens and holds a MA in Cultural Studies and Human Communication from the University of Athens. She has published the poetry collections “Words in the Sand” (24grammata publications, 2019), “After celebration customs” (24grammata publications, 2020) and “Gale warning” (24grammata publications, 2022. In 2014 she created the website BookSitting.gr about books, arts, and ideas. Poems of hers have been translated in Italian and English.

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