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Best Poems Written by Demetrios Trifiatis

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Details | Demetrios Trifiatis Poem

We Are Brothers Ii

Don’t look at me
As though I am an alien or a stranger,
Don’t let the dagger of antipathy
Fly out of your eyes.

I am your neighbor.

Don’t call me a foe, an antagonist, or a rival,
Don’t roll up your mistrustful sleeves for a fight.

I am your friend.

Don’t hold this murderous weapon in your kind hand,
Don’t deny me the right to work, to eat, or to live.

I am your brother.

If destiny willed me to be born
On this side of the frontier line,
If my parents wished me
To wear these clothes
And taught me their own dances,
Do we have to be adversaries?

If fate desired me to speak
This tongue foreign to you
And our skins’ color to differ,
Do we have to be competitors?

If necessity decided for us
To live in this country,
In the North, South, East, or West,
Do we have to be opponents?

If I believe in Jesus,
Jehovah,
Krishna,
Buddha,
Brahma
Or Allah,
If this is my philosophy,
My tradition,
My history
And my culture,
Do we have to be enemies?

No! A million times: no!

Please, look at me with new eyes
And throw away your injurious prejudices.
What do you see but a person like you
Who wants, desires, and hopes for the same things in life:
Well-being,
Happiness,
A home,
Family,
Some friends,
Some love?

Look:
I walk,
I talk,
I eat,
I sleep,
I dream,
I laugh and I cry.

Just like you.

I’m born,
I grow up,
I learn,
I suffer,
I bleed
And I die.

Just like you.

I’m a father,
A mother,
A brother,
A sister,
A son,
And a daughter.

Just like you.

You see: we are alike.
We are the same.
We are brothers.

Listen to me my neighbor, my friend, and my ally:
I am telling you the truth.
We are the victims of schemes,
Well planned in advance
By deceitful evil-hearted men, who wished our
Destruction to bring.

They, masters of savage forgery, dividers of mankind
Have tricked us throughout history
With well-orchestrated lies
And with treacherous stories.
These intellectually impotent criminals
Have instilled poison in your heart and mine.
Thus, by cultivating hatred, bitterness, and rage,
They managed to shape us into ruthless foes,
Into merciless enemies,
Into cruel animals.

Please, listen to me! It is true. We are brothers.

Let us therefore with irresistible will cross all frontier lines
That the past has erected between us,
Thus making divisions vanish.

Let us with supreme power, break the bonds of history,
Religion and culture and run into each other’s arms.

Let us uproot from our tormented hearts thorny mistrust
That was planted there thousands of years ago.

Let us seize ammunition from destructive hatred,
And make war capitulate.

Let us sink the cholera of bitterness
In the affectionate sea of the universal brotherhood,

And finally,

Let us unite and march to higher claims,
To incomparable glory
Where peace can blossom today.
Thus,
Both of us, my brother, at last, will go to sleep,
Fearless of each other tonight!

-
-

NOTE: This poem, after having been edited, is posted again because
of the acute migration and refugee problem that has been created
in Europe. Greece, my country, receives thousands and even tenths
of thousands of refugees and illegal immigrants each day. In some of
the Greek islands the migrants are more than the Greeks. Some of these
people leave for Europe where in countries like F.Y.R.O.M., Serbia, Hungary
Bulgaria, Austria, Germany, France, Italy have created social and economic problems because of their numbers. This fact prompted me, after the suggestion
of a good friend at PS, to repost the poem so as to ask from all, migrants and natives, understanding and tolerance for the good of peace! Thank you!

Details | Demetrios Trifiatis Poem

Democracy

Oh, Democracy,* 
You, the most desirable bride among  
Political systems,
Your suitors many have been throughout 
History  
In every part of the world, you were the one
They were after
But
You declined their proposals, despite the fact
All suitors, to charm you, they have tried, 
With great honors, and by putting your name 
Next to theirs, to allure you to sanctify their 
Biased politics
Thus
The oligarchs
The Despots
The Tyrants
The dictators
The totalitarians and
Many more
All 
Have declared themselves to be: 
Your fervent admirers,  
Your ardent devotees,
Your fierce protectors,  
Of your eternal principles 
By 
Wrapping themselves in your
Heavenly gown and calling themselves your 
Beloved ones 
But you, unyielding remained
For
You knew, that no one has succeeded in measuring up 
To the ideals, your wise father, SOLON,** has set
And to the glorious values with which he 
Nurtured you, those superb principles: 
Of Virtue
Of justice
Of ethics
Of freedom 
Of equality
Of autonomy 
Of self-knowledge
Of responsibility
Of selfishness  
And 
Of the paramount devotion to
The common good and the happiness
Of the people you serve!

It is for that reason, you, oh Democracy, 
Seldom have shown any favoritism to any of 
Your suitors, for all, fell short of
Your lofty aspirations 
Thus 
You were, unfortunately, for very
Lengthy periods of time mistreated, neglected, subjugated and
Exploited by your pretenders:   
The immoral
The unjust
The dishonorable  
The Ignorant
The power-thirsty 
The warmongers 
The money seekers,  
Who 
Chose to ignore all that you stood for and  
Disregarded the common good and 
The happiness of the people they supposed to serve
For 
To promote their own interest and those of 
Their cronies  
Thus 
Ruining the chances of any truly democratic society to
Be established  
For that reason, oh Democracy, I understand you now
Why a spinster, you, have chosen to
Remain!


© Demetrios Trifiatis
 16 OCTOBER 2014

* Democracy is the combination of two words: Demos and Cratos. Demos means the People and Cratos means Power so Democracy means “ Power to the People.” It will be helpful to read my poem “ THE BIRTH OF DEMOCRACY” for a better understanding.

**The concept of Democracy is deeply rooted in the Greek Psyche! We see it in the Mythology where Zeus, the supreme God, is just “first among equals” Then appears in Homer’s poems but the father of Democracy is asserted to be Solon, the Athenian who was one of the seven wise men of old. Solon, 7th –6th centuries B.C. was the theoretician that established Democracy. Solon considered the pillars of Democracy to be Justice and Virtue. So every politician should be Just and virtuous and his main objective would be to safeguard the well-being and happiness of the people and that of the state's plus the wealth to be distributed justly among the citizens. Knowledge, responsibility, self-control, self-knowledge, sacrifice, and equality, had to be characteristics of every citizen. Plato said that “Virtue is worth as much as all gold that is possessed by all people put together and all gold that is still in the ground.” To that Aristotle added that “ every politician has to be forged on the anvil of virtue.”

Details | Demetrios Trifiatis Poem

Because I Love You

I saw the bitter tears of unhappiness
Running down your agonizing face,
Ravaged with pain,

And I became a sponge of compassion
To absorb them.

I heard the howling
Of your starving stomach,
Echoing throughout your rebellious drained veins,

And I became a sweet loaf of bread
To feed you.

I tasted the torturous thirst
Of your dry lips,
Burning fire, consuming your every single tissue,

And I became the vivifying fresh water
To quench it.

I sensed the presence of sickness
In your tormented body,
Devouring your vibrant well-being,

And I became salutary medicine to nurse you
Back to health.

I felt the terror
In your trembling gracious heart,
Scaring away your lofty humane virtues,

And I became fortifying courage to obliterate
Your distressful fears.

I found you lost in the darkness
Of joyless desperation,
Walking towards the abominable cliffs of self-distraction,

And I became a bright ray of hope to guide you
To self-realization.

I discovered you shivering
in the middle of savage winter,
Wandering around without a roof over your frozen head,

And I became a shelter of warmth to protect you
From merciless cold.

I watched you suffering
from excruciating solitude,
Feeling the ever depressing loneliness in your tormented soul,

And I became your constant
Caring companion.

I noted the torture
Of merciless rejection,
Destroying your wonderful, tender feelings,

And I became
Your faithful loved one.

I observed you struggle
In the rough sea of life, fighting your way,
Over the ominous waves of human malice,

And I became a solid boat of charity
To bring you on the serene shore.

I witnessed your efforts
To climb the mountains of desirable success,
Struggling, hopelessly, up the steep path of attainment,

And I became a firm ladder of mercy
To help you reach the very top.

I discerned you fighting against your brutal enemies
Trying to overcome their beastly power,
With your bare hands,

And I became a heavy sword of justice
To make you victorious.

I perceived the sharp arrow
Of relentless death,
Heading towards your loving, caring heart,

And I became a shield of concern
To save your precious life.

You ask me why I do all these things for you...

The answer is very simple my friend:
It is because

I LOVE YOU!

* I would like to thank all of you my friends because without your presence and your appreciation the honor of POTD wouldn't have been possible. I would also
like to thank the officials of Poetrysoup for the honor bestowed on my poem!

Details | Demetrios Trifiatis Poem

Day My Eternal Friend

Day, my lifelong friend
Thousands of times have we said good morning to each other and
As many times have, we said goodnight,
You have wakened me up with the caresses of the sun’s rays and put me 
To sleep with the lullabies of sunset’s myriad hues.
Many a time, you were calm as a harbor's waters, and others you were 
Turbulent as the stormy sea 
But 
I loved you the same, so we Inseparable have remained.  

How many times have I waited for your coming, you will never know.
Neither will you know how much I have prayed to see you faster go 
When so unkind you were to me,
However, 
You kept your pace unchanged, obeying only the will of mighty time.

All these years you have brought to me:
Joys and sorrows, 
Laughter and tears, 
Successes and failures
Health and sickness 
Life and death.

You were the best of my friends and the worst of my enemies but
United, side by side, we stood. How could it be otherwise when we  
Both wished our destiny to fulfill?

Now, my eternal friend, the circle of my life is almost complete. 
The days for me are numbered. 
How many more times are we going to salute each other is unknown to all but to God,
So
Before we say our final goodnight, let me thank you for every sunrise and every sunset,
For all the sunshine and all the storms you have brought to my life
For 
Without them, an empty vessel, without any experiences would I have been,
Useless to everybody and worthless to myself
Thus 
When tomorrow you, my wise friend, come and unable you will be, me to awake,
Be not disturbed 
Since 
Another dawn, brighter than yours, will have taken me into its arms to 
Console me with her everlastingly divine love! 




© Demetrios Trifiatis
   03 September 2015

Details | Demetrios Trifiatis Poem

Eternal Recurrence

ETERNAL RECURRENCE*


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
“I am certain that I have been here as I am now a thousand times before and
 I hope to return a thousand times after.”  GOETHE 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


1.

Once upon a time, 
The Lord of spiritual consciousness was sitting peacefully on His blissful throne 
Ceaselessly contemplating upon His equilibrium
T’ was the era of no moon, no sun, no stars, no earth, no oceans, no rivers
Just a motionless, timeless and deathless entity it was happy with His existence  

2.

Suddenly the thought of sacred motion was felt deep down in his essence
Seeking the chaos to be stirred from its core outwardly
Consequently separating the light from the darkness and all the other elements 
That constitute the Cosmos
Thus giving birth immediately to old mighty time

3.

When Time: This wizard of celestial art found himself alive
His expert hands stretched in advance, wanting to create
For that the plastic energy he took, that was everywhere around
And skillfully and patiently the Cosmos carved according to the Logos
Creating thus, the nebulae, the galaxies, the stars and all the other planets

4.

Then God looked at times creation and marveled with its beauty
But as there was no life to be seen in all of this creation
The thought of desire was born in God to inhabit every place
For that out of himself he cut myriads blazing souls
Which like shooting stars he sent downwards to animate nature,

5.

In this way, to manifestation’s cosmic sphere, the souls were beamed
Radiating their luminosity to reality’s lower planes  
Bringing with them the sacred principles to denser forms of life 
As they were passing from the spiritual, the mental and the astral
And finally materializing, themselves on the physical solid plane
Where life began on earth, with God’s will and grace!

6.

Each soul an ambassador was and is of God’s will and grace
A ray of divinity, a guardian of the Holy Law 
Each with a specific mission: to learn or rather to remember
How to find the way of return throughout space and time
And with the divine, again, to be seen in perfect equilibrium

7.

The day I was born, as every man alive,
I found my immortal self bound to the wheel of time 
That around eternity’s circumference took me, in very heavy chains
Asking to follow obediently the unswerving path of fate:
This endless trip of return where the only constant thing is change

8.

Since then I have died once and many times after
But death's dark palaces to hold me were unable
As my soul’s perpetual desire to follow my destiny
Brought me back to this ephemeral world of fleeting dreams
With a new body, new hopes, new goals but always with the 
Same desire

9.

Thus I journeyed back and forth the plains of oblivion
Choosing the best conditions I could, according to my karma
Trying to find endlessly the golden middle way 
That unmistakably between the extremes is only to be found
But since from the river of forgetfulness each time I was drinking 
I was obliged, unfortunately, to start over again

10.

So, I was born once a king and another was I born a beggar
And in turns I was born a coward, a hero, a holy man, a vicious man,
A  Christian, a Muslim, an atheist, an idolater a strong man and a woman
And healthy and sick I was born and intelligent and witless
And was I born to love so much the things I once detested
And to hate passionately the things I once held dear

11.

And I was born once to laugh and another just to cry
And I drunk successively from joy’s cup and that of sorrow’s
And was born to make friends out of my enemies 
And enemies out of my brothers
And was born to realize the impossible dreams and fail the very easy  
And I was born to slay and to be slain alternatively for thousands of years

12.

Thus I lived continuously the extremes of both good and evil
Striving to find endlessly the balance in my soul
Through the wisdom that was endowed upon me by the Great Spirit
That like a beacon, luminous, to guide me waits
To my supreme destiny that GOD for me has traced

13.

So, as was passing from life unto death, from darkness unto light
With a speed determined by me, I don’t put on GOD the blame,
All my lessons have I learned through trial and error
Up to the very last reincarnation, in body’s mortal temple

14.

Now free, AT LAST, from all earthly desires and every karmic blame
Radiating with holiness and glowing with grace 
My immortal soul, HER divine wings unfolds and soars upwards the heavens
White light blazing in perfect equilibrium 
And pure now to her glorious creator returns and with 
HIM UNITES! 


©Demetrios Trifiatis
  11 DECEMBER 2013


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“A little while and my longing shall gather dust and foam for another body.
A little while, a moment of rest upon the wind and another woman shall bear me”
KAHLIL GIBRAN
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

* This poem because of its length I was unable to post it in one piece for I was not a
member for life at that time therefore I published it in two parts as: “CREATION” and as “REINCARNATION.” Here is the entire poem as it was originally written.
Now, my friends know that apart from my epigrams I write... long poems as well!

Details | Demetrios Trifiatis Poem

The Real Me

I was put on the road of life without my consent. 
I was not conscious of who I was or of what I had to do, and
What direction I should go.

I was just asked to follow in the footsteps of my predecessors who:
Dressed me the way they were dressed 
Baptized me into their religion, and taught me,
Their language 
Their history
Their tradition, and
Their culture.

On the way, they also indicated to me
Whom to trust and whom not to trust
Who my friends and my enemies were 
Whom I should love and whom to hate
Thus
Before I became an adult and form my own opinion about
The nature of persons and things 
I already had become one of them.

Growing older though, and being educated under different systems,
I started questioning the correctness of the values and ideas with 
Which I was brought up
Thus 
I asked myself:
Was my religion really "my " religion?
Were my enemies really "my" enemies?
My friends really "my" friends?
My values really " my" values?
My ideas really " my " ideas?

If they were, then there was no problem 
But 
If there were not, then who was I?
Who was the real me?

To give answers to these questions,  I had to reinvent myself,
I had to see me, not through the prism of their:
Education, 
Religion, 
History, 
Tradition, and culture 
But 
Through my own prism
The newly discovered prism of my "pure" self,
The self that was liberated from all prejudices of the past.
The self that saw the world I lived in under a new light of
Understanding
The light of my universal self,
Te self that didn't belong to a race, a creed, or a nation 
But
To humanity, to love, to the universal brotherhood, and God.
   
To achieve this though
I had to put myself into a parenthesis 
A parenthesis that helped me withhold, for some time, all my judgments
Till I decided what ideas I will accept and what ideas I will refuse, 
Whom I will trust and whom I will mistrust
Whom I will love and whom I will hate.

When this introspection and reevaluation was completed
Then and only then I was able to present myself to the world
Then and only then I was able to shout on the top of my voice: 
"Here I am, my brothers, my sisters, this is the real me!" 








© Demetrios Trifiatis
       19 May 2021    

* I would like to share the honor of POTD with all my friends who are kind enough to visit and comment on my poetry. I also thank the officials of PoetrySoup who have the difficult task to choose among so many worthy poems the POTD. Blessings.

Details | Demetrios Trifiatis Poem

Life In Eternity

LIFE IN ETERNITY*


1.

The cheerful trumpet of miraculous life, imperatively sounded in 
My mother’s life-giving womb,
Heralding with its melodic tune another animation: MINE!
And as my innocent infantile heart was provoked by
The challenging divine call, 
Started beating tenderly in the rhythm of never-dying cosmos
Thus making me ALIVE!  

2.

The promising sound was still ringing in my delicate ears, singing the 
Marvelously hopeful song of life, 
When a sound of a Second trumpet, similar to the first, filled with 
Its melancholic tune my tiny world, announcing the
Coming of calamitous death thus condemning me to DIE!

3.
 
LIFE and DEATH beside me they stood facing each-other, 
Tenderly holding my hands and claiming me as their child,
Life was the first to whisper into my ears promises so many:
She talked to me about joy, happiness, love and procreation,
About thousands of other things that she would like to offer, 
Only a favor she asked in return- to be hers and only hers
Forever! 

4.

When death heard what life said, didn’t make any sound
Only sardonically smiled at her first and then to me
Emphatically declared:
“The cup of joy you can never drink before you empty that
Of sorrow’s
And no matter what life tells you, in the end you will be 
My very own.”

5.

That’s the way my trip in this ephemeral world began
With vigorous life leading and tracing the promising way
While death kept following her, just a few steps behind,
Patiently waiting to catch up with her pace
But, 
As years were passing fast one after the other
Death was approaching her rapidly each and every day
So the fight they had begun so many years ago
Relentless war now becomes with life still the winner 

6.

Yet the ill-fated day of my death came to my great surprise
As life’s iron grasp of my hand, had lost its strength and vigor
And that of death’s had gained much power and might,
In vain I cried for life’s help for she had lost the battle 
So, the eager hands of death I felt around my skeleton waist
Violently squeezing me with all their force and main,
Ready to extinguish they are my very last spark of life  
And as the shrilling wind of death, is howling throughout my body
I fall motionless, breathless, DEAD and over the ground remain

7.

Yet, I am still here, just hovering all over my inanimate body,
Surprised! Confused! Bewildered, nevertheless EXISTING!
With no hands, no arms, no legs, no head or any other organ,
Just pure thought, pure consciousness, pure light, in other words 
A SOUL

8. 

Now, to those of you who many tears of sorrow shed
For my sake
One thing I have to ask: Rejoice for I am truly alive
Dead was I certainly, when among you existed
Therefore, your grief for me should turn to great joy
If you do not want me to pity you and delay my flight

9.

Death, you are my savior, my friend my ally
Thank you for delivering me from agony and pain
From space, time, ignorance, ignominy, injustice
And most of all, I thank Thee for the eternal life


10

Impatient my soul now becomes, yearns to fly away
Far from human misery and every other worry 
The only thought that exists deep down in my soul  
Is to trace back its steps to its celestial home

11.

Now, I fly uninterruptedly, I am on my way
As the shining bright stars illumine my road
The road of accomplishment, attainment and glory
Ah, there at last I see the ever dazzling light
The gates of eternity to open for me wide
And God Himself to look at me with His ever blazing eyes
Calling to hurry forward and with Him unite

12

Instantly I disappear in a universe of sacred light
Joyful, happy,  jubilant, ecstatic, ever-blissful 
And become one with the ONE, immortal everlasting 
Radiating with holiness, enraptured with grace
A ray of divinity encompassing the COSMOS


Oh, how grateful I am to you DEATH my LIBERATOR!



©Demetrios Trifiatis
16 DECEMBER 2013


*Wrote this poem for the passing on of a thirteen-year-old girl! 


**Because of its length I was unable to post this poem in one piece for I was not a member for life at that time, therefore, I published it in two parts, as Choreography of Life and as Death My Liberator. Here is the entire poem as it was originally written with minor changes.

***Myself, have thrice crossed swords with death and have felt his breath on my neck!
    With God's grace though I am still here!

Details | Demetrios Trifiatis Poem

Do Not Cry

Come, my friend, 
Do not cry
For
Tears blur your vision of life,
Distorting thus reality    
 
Come, my friend,
Wipe your tears and see how clearer
The world appears:
The shapes, sharper,
The colors, brighter,
The flowers, softer,
The sounds more melodious
The scents more aromatic.  

Come, my friend,
Smile and you will enjoy more 
Nature’s beauty:
The majestic mountains
The green valleys
The impenetrable forests
The mighty rivers
The endless seas.

Come, my friend,
Laugh and tell me, aren’t: 
Your pains subsided?
Your fears minimized?
Your hopes augmented?
Your doubts reduced?
Your dreams intensified?

Come, my friend,
Together we are going to face life, by:
Crying, smiling, laughing, fighting, loving,
Living, and dying. 

Come, my friend,
You are not alone anymore for I am next to you
And next to you I will stay,
No matter what may come
For
I wish to help you
So out of this adventure, that life we call, you
Victorious to emerge! 




© Demetrios Trifiatis
   12 November 2015
  


POTD

Details | Demetrios Trifiatis Poem

Death My Pal

Death,
An old friend, as old as life,
We met soon after my birth 
He liked to play games with me 
“Be ready,” he said. “I am coming for you.”
I waited, was all ready to go, 
no fear, 
no agony, 
no regrets.
 
Typhus was a serious matter back then.   
I was a child of four but last minute
He changed his mind and
Let me be.

He returned later on though
Impressive he was, scary, I was a youth now
Knew, I had a lot to lose, all life was before me 
But what could I do?
He is the boss 
I fought back, after the accident, 
He seemed to like my fighting 
He played cat and mouse for a while but in the end
Let me go with a warning 
“Next time will be your last”
I nodded,
He smiled. 

Years passed
I didn’t see or heard of him all that time 
Ready was I to welcome my daughter 
Anxiously, was I waiting for the marvelous moment
To come. 
Suddenly, my door knocked.
“Here I am again!” He shouted
“You have chosen the worst of times,” I replied
“Any time is a good time for me” He retorted 
“Wait for her to be born, at least” I begged him.
“Ok, you have nine months.”
“Thank you, you so generous” 
Finally, he let me off the hook again.
Why? 
I do not know! 
Probably, the cancer was not that aggressive. 
Probably, because he knows I am his, so he likes to play:
To scare people as it gives him prestige and status!

Since my daughter’s birth 
I had some more skirmishes with death:
Melanoma, Apnea, cancerous cells,  
But each time, he let me go.
Now, I do not care 
I am not afraid of him anymore. 
We have become buddies. 
We jock and laugh 
He plays the terrible master 
I play the intrepid servant
You see, my mortal friends, we must keep up
The appearances 
This is the game of life and death.  
A game that no matter who loses, 
Life is always the winner for even after we die
We live!

Cheer up!

There he comes again
Smiling and cheerful he is, as never before
“Hi pal!” “You look great”
“So do you” I replied 
We embrace each other for that what pals do!
“It is such a fun to have old friends like you.” I mused!
“Let’s have a beer before going” He suggested 
“Why not” I replied “ I am not in a hurry!”  
He laughed and so did I
What a great guy! 
What a PAL!
I could even give my …soul to HIM!
Haha!

Performance Over
Curtains down
See you later 
I am certain about this!
 
The same game, I will play with my pal 
Once more! 
I would even write a poem about it
But
Under a different name!
I will keep you posted!

Enjoy life 
Here and in the hereafter!






© Demetrios Trifiatis
      03 June 2016



*This is a biographical poem of mine! All health details are true!
I am not afraid of dying but I do not look forward either! Not yet
anyway! Haha!