sweet lemons by Lisa Reily

 


 

Lisa Reily is a former literacy consultant, dance director and teacher from Australia. Her poetry has been published in several journals, such as Amaryllis, London Grip, Panoplyzine, Magma Poetry (online) and Sentinel Literary Quarterly magazine. You can find out more about Lisa at lisareily.wordpress.com

 


 

 

             

             

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

we climb the path, uneven stone,

reach the small wooden church on the hill;

 

we sit in the cool,

watch Bulgarian saints

eye us from ancient walls,

and small candles flicker

for those who have passed; I light one

for my mother,

and when I step outside, an old woman

plucks a plum from a nearby tree,

and gives it to me.

 

we travel on, over the railway track,

where a gypsy in a sparkling shawl waves to us

from a horse and cart,

a homeless kitten accepts my pat,                                             

and horses, untethered, eat wildflowers.

 

outside our apartment, there is music in the air,

sirtaki, the sounds of Greece;

 

outside, a stranger collects me in the rain,

and I am not scared;

 

a little boy talks to me at the bus stop,

waits by my side

until his mother calls him home;

 

the taverna owner rescues a stray dog,                                                             

washes it, indifferent                                                                                            

to his customers who leave at the sight

of fleas drowned in poisoned rivers;

 

and at our small room, the owner’s son

cleans our clothes for free,

hangs bags of lemons from our door.    

 

Lisa Reily

 

Greek Sunset by Lisa Reily

nanna’s garden by Lisa Reily

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