Other Candle Lights

Other Candle Lights

John Manesis explores memory in his second poetry book
which features a range of characters, from the well
known, like Elia Kazan, to everyday people whose voices
speak to us. Many of the poems examine the island lore
of his ancestors, immigrants' departures and returns,
and their American experience. Below are three poems
from the book:

I Think That Papa Knew

When company came,
Mama served our guests
her pastries on a silver tray--
koulouria, kourambiethes, baklava--
along with glasses of water
and shots of Ouzo and Metaxa.

Papa let me sit with grown-ups
but made it clear I wasn't there to talk.
The things that they discussed
didn't really interest a young girl--
the latest news from Greece,
complaints about the Priest,
business at the restaurant,
weddings, births, and deaths.

While they were visiting,
I curled up in a chair,
pretending to be asleep
so he would carry me to bed.
I think that Papa knew.
Those were the only times
he ever held me in his arms.

The Ascent of Icarus

My father, Daedalus, with good intentions,
preoccupied himself with his inventions--
the lever, wedge, and maze so paramount
that I believed I was of no account.
Before we lifted off the Cretan shore,
he cautioned me and, as he had before,
predicted our escape would represent
his most ingenious accomplishment.

But it was I who rose into that glare,
higher than even he would ever dare,
a moment which for once was mine to claim,
the feat forever coupled with my name.
And even as the feathers, one by one,
wafted down, I did not curse the sun.

The Times
     -for Bess

Forgive me
for the times
I did not listen to
what you had to say,
for the times
I did not listen to what
you had to say,
for the times
I did not listen to what you
had to say.

Rejoice
in the times I recognized a different
accent among the syllables of your embrace,
in the times I noticed the various ways
your hands spoke to one another,
in the times I understood
the phrases in your eyes.

Reviews of "Other Candle Lights"

"The rhythms of his poems are generation heartbeats, spanning time and countries. He bears his heritage like a jewel, proudly displayed in this poetic showcase."
               Dorothea Bisbas, author of Wreath of Desire

"Like a true son of Ariadne, John Manesis threads his poetry through a maze of memory and desire to reveal a hidden landscape of people and places. The bittersweet poems in Other Candle Lights linger after one closes the book."
               Debra Marquart, author of The Horizontal World