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Number of hits several since March 2004
Copyright © Panayotis Skordos 
pskordos (at) alum (dot) mit (dot) edu 


20010814  An unrepeatable tango

Embracing alone on the sidewalk,
next to automobiles rushing by,
next to people watching with curiosity,
we're doing the tango and it feels right.

Night has come, and we are two shadows
swaying and mingling with the lights.
I see your eyes, I feel your body entirely,
getting entangled inseparably with mine.

For the duration of this tango, 
I know you love me.

Next time I come, I may not find you,
and if I find you, you will be different,
and our tango will be different, always,
meeting anew, as on a virgin night.


20020419 Argentinean moon

Lighting the horizon is a moon.
I extend my hand towards it, 
but can not reach it.

The way we're staring at each other, 
I see her eyes
conversing, and reading my whole being.

Like this, between the stars, we flew,
on top a magic carpet, 
with ring shapes, rolling turns and steps,

following the waves of a dream, 
with an accordion and violin,
and the Argentinean heat.

Like this, and for a fleeting moment
I felt my whole life was worth it.


20020425 The last milonga

When Charon the ferryman comes over to take me,
remember to play for me a fast milonga, 
so I can offer him my soul happy. 

On top my bed sheets, moist with sweat,
and while the fever is rising high,
and the old man's mind is reminiscing,

and every breath that still remains
is all so precious,
remember to play for me a fast milonga.

Like that I want Charon to find me,
with my mind dancing the milonga.

They say there is a Paradise in Heaven,
but does it matter? It's probably a lie.

Yet only a joyful milonga
with a beloved woman in my arms,
that was my Paradise.


20030216 Friendly snake

A woman with large eyes and a pensive look,
wearing a web-like dress, both sincere and sexy,
a girl with a beautiful smile, legs and arms,
was all around me like a friendly snake.

Or was I the snake? 
No, we didn't say much,
yet we came to know and to trust 
each other through the dance. 

Hypnotized by the tango,
wrapped ourselves in an embrace,
we moved together as one body,

whirling and twirling,
and touching each other
from the cheeks down to the knees,

like two enamored dolphins,
following and playing 
in a sea of love.


20030811 Lily

With curly hair, hawk-like black, reaching her neck,
a torso so feminine to drive you crazy,
with looks of innocent fire like charring coals,
she's slim and tall with curves at the right place. 

Her words are very few, no conversations,
and her smiles are unexpected and strange, 
like someone who never learned to smile,
as if she's lived her life in fear and in pain.

It is a sour pain to watch her do the tango.
It is both a pleasure and a pain, a poison
to dance with her, to feel her yielding limbs and body
stretch endlessly on top of yours,
to give the best you've got, and start to hope, 
and then she'll leave you on the fourth song, 
with an outwordly thank you, and you wondering why?

Perhaps Lily does not like any man,
because with all of us she'll only dance three times.
Perhaps no man among us is enough for her,
because she prefers to sit alone and wait.
Perhaps Lily is herself a tango song,
always dressed in black and attractive,
with naked shoulders and back,
single and by herself, full of pain and yearning.
Yes, Lily is a tango song.


20030920 The tiger

Lit by a lamp of lunar light,
a shadow on the wooden floor,
a tiger silhouette appears 
carefully choosing his steps and goal.

His force is disciplined and wild
ready to burst at any time
to satisfy an immortal instinct
that's hiding deeply in his innards.

His movement is inseperable from the sound,
the rhythm and the melody, one body,
as if the Tango is resurrected
picking up flesh and bones for an instant.

And thus the tiger vanishes,
there's now only music in our eyes,
and the girl that surrenders in his arms
transforms herself into a Muse divine.


20031206 A tango follower

You are holding me up 
like a precious stone,
that should fall on the floor
and break its bones.

You are swirling me around
like a wave in the sea,
that the rocks are awaiting
to splash into foam.

You are reaching around me
like an ivy tree
that should I ever invite
would pierce me.