Οἱ ἀπώλειες

Πολλὰ χρόνια πέρασαν καταμετρῶντας ἀπώλειες, σιγὰ σιγά, λίγο λίγο, ὥρα μὲ τὴν ὥρα, μέρα μὲ τὴ μέρα, βιβλία, γράμματα, ἱστολόγια, ἱστορίες, παραστάσεις, ποιήματα. Οἱ ἀπώλειες εἶναι πάντοτε σαφεῖς, ἀνεξέλεγκτες κι ὁλοένα καὶ πιὸ καταστροφικῆς ποιότητας. Τί εἶναι λοιπὸν αὐτὸ πού δίνει στὶς ἀπώλειες αὐτὴ τὴν καταστροφικὴ ἰσχύ; Ὁ πόνος πού καθίσταται σταδιακὰ διαφορετικῆς φύσεως σά μία γρήγορη μαχαιριά, ἢ ὁ ἔλεγχος πού διαχωρίζει τὴν ἀπώλεια ἀπὸ τὴν ἐγκατάλειψη; Ἐγκαταλείπω κάτι, ἔχω τὸν ἔλεγχο. Τὸ χάνω, μαζί του χάνω καὶ τὸν ἔλεγχο. Σὲ ποιὰ κατηγορία λοιπὸν ἐμπίπτουν τὰ καταμετρηθέντα; Στὶς ἀπώλειες ἢ στὰ ἐγκαταλελειμένα;

One Art

The art of losing isn't hard to master;

so many things seem filled with the intent

to be lost that their loss is no disaster,

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster

of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.

The art of losing isn't hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:

places, and names, and where it was you meant

to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or

next-to-last, of three loved houses went.

The art of losing isn't hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,

some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.

I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.

- Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture

I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident

the art of losing's not too hard to master

though it may look like (Write it!) like a disaster.

Elizabeth Bishop