Two Poems
George Gad Economou
Flickering Lamplights
an empty world outside
the tiny window, strong gusts shake
the walls and no soul braces the wind, the
death that lingers in the air.
with a fifth of mezcal, the long hours turn to minutes;
across the street a young couple watches television,
children’s laughter is carried by the wind.
even the two lamplights in the street corners flicker;
a world standing still, no bars open, jobs lost, food
might get scarce in a month—no one notices the man
sleeping on a park bench, stay home to him means something
different than for most.
about a hundred years since the Spanish flu, is there
a circle? my old buddy with the horns and the scythe
guffaws and fills my lowball from his
neverending pitcher.
Fires in the Sky
sparrows on fire soar through purple
clouds of sorrow down the cruel pathway of yesterday where one
poet drank eighteen whiskies, murdered by a damn dumb quack then
legends born and warnings formed the nightingales on windowsills s-
it crying out roars for lost tomorrows the deathly and deadly warning of
morose nights to come down that a-way we all went dry tobacco wet martinis
in our flasks and pockets galloping in our broken down cars the neon signs we
crossed were out no hope in the air as the flaming sparrows came down to
the edge of the sidewalk hitchhiking rides to other times we offered they refused
we cried and drank and passed out in the freezing desert day the nights
too hot to handle we sweated buckets and wet martinis can only do
so much we had nothing else we swilled them down we drowned
phoenixes may rise from their ashes we do not we did
not we knowingly entered the madness unleashed beasts buried since
Plato’s and Timocreon’s time farewell world new beginnings final
preparations and the roadtrip’s long and one-way.
George Gad Economou holds a Master’s degree in Philosophy of Science and resides in Athens, Greece, doing freelance work whenever he can while searching for a new place to go. His novella, Letters to S., was published in Storylandia Issue 30 and his short stories and poems have appeared in literary magazines, such as Adelaide Literary Magazine and Modern Drunkard Magazine, and his first poetry collection is slated for publication in 2021 by Adelaide Books.