This poem has given inspiration for my 2018 writing project. Every Monday I post a literary text related to the ideal bench, on Facebook in Greek with some photos.
The ideal bench
The ideal bench
Doesn’t exist
Where you can lie down and take a nap
Inside a park of beautiful trees
Which will offer shade to your face
Where a soft breeze
Will make the leaves rustle
Only for you
On it you will doze
And as you sleep, you will dream
That you found the ideal bench
With no gaps between the boards
It is completely smooth, without slits
It is clean, without any droppings
From the birds flying over your head
On the ideal bench
There is place for you, too, my love
We can sit here together and gaze
We can philosophise together
What a wonderful bench
Close to the sea, next to the dune grasses
With their particular smell
The wind caresses our hair
The sea breeze makes your nostrils open
And the water brings the seaweed to your feet
None of this is true
It’s either your memory or your imagination
Remembrance of things past, of things desired
The ideal bench is just a metaphor
A literary metaphor for happiness
(Lito Seizani, 27.8.13)
