21042 - Below the letters

N. Lygeros
Translated from the Greek by Vicky Baklessi

Above the fireplace, below the letters, a coat of arms.
Beside the fireplace a young girl is learning the letters.
She has opened a large book.
Because of the weight it is on the floor and she is above.
Its leaves lift her palms.
Lifted as she is, she is in front of the fireplace so that she can see,
it seems as if she is praying.
There is no need though because she is already reading.
She is peaceful and feels the serenity of the space which is only Time.
The bookmark looks like a sword.
It was like his.
She wanted the same and he had drawn it for her.
It was the swordmark, he would tell her, and when he wasn’t with her, she called him sword.
So she lifted the sword to change the page
then she saw on the left of the edge the sign she knew.
How was it brought to the book?
She didn’t know.
But when she crossed over it,
the coat of arms of the fireplace changed mode.
Yes, it changed mode, without reason.
At least that is what she believed then.