Cavafy and Chocolate Talk in Athens

Chocolate Talk/ Shulamit Sapir- Nevo

Now I am talking to you in chocolate,

It always starts with the crinkling of α

gold wrapping paper, and the

bows of the red ribbon.

We start at random,

Because the time has come

For the chocolate talk.

When you remove the wrapping

And see for yourself the color of the lace

And the smell of the undulating brown chocolate

And when you taste with your lips the chocolate beats

Your whole body

listens to the

chocolate talk.

When I think about Keti, I hear the song

Suzanne by Leonard Cohen in my head.

Keti takes you down to her place

Σοκολάτα – Sokolata, off Ermou street in Athens,

a street that combines the old and the new,

the rich and the poor.

And she feeds you cafe and chocolates that come

all the way from afar.

In the chocolate world you can meet the dark and mysterious waves,

the milky and the sweet pearls.

Life is like Chocolate, and you can find and taste in it

all the flavors, both fantasy and reality.

Great expectations, dreams, longing,

easy come, hard to chew,

Irresistible sweet, naughty , hot, cold, freezing and melting,

bitter and betraying, comfort, teasing, smooth,

honest , sour, spicy.

Did I cover them all?

No.

Because there are always new things to discover.

Old things to remember.

And some things to repeat- that’s what life about.

So here I sit with Kati every day.,

Practicing my  Greek.

Kalimera, ti kanis? ola kala, pos se lene? Lee pamee…

And when I tell her that I study Ellnika,

She is very impressed.

Telling her how much I love Greek culture, the music ,

the language,the scenery, the food.

But most of all the people that I meet

and become friends with.

Kati has deep eyes full of kindness, wisdom and art.

She shows me CAVAFY ,

and we both go through his poems.

One page in Greek and the next one in English,

translated by Evangelos Sachperoglou.

Here is one of my Cavafy ‘s favorites

FAR AWAY

I would like to put this memory into words…

But it has faded so, by now…as if almost nothing remains-

For it lies far away, in my early adolescent years.

Skin as if made of jasmine…

During that August- was it August?- night…

By now, I can barely recall the eyes; they were, I think,

Deep blue…

Oh yes, deep blue; a sapphirine blue.

Καβαφης

ΜΑΚΡΥΑ

Θα θελα αυτήν την μνήμη να

την πω…

Μα έτσι εσβυσθη μα…σαν τίποτε δεν απομένει-

Γιατί μακρυά, στα πρώτα

Εφηβικά μου χρόνια κειται.

Δέρμα σαν καμωμένο

από ιασεμι.

Εκείνη του Αυγούστου –

Αύγουστος ήταν; η βραδιά…

Μόλις θυμουμαι πια τα ματιά;

Α ναι, μαβια;

ένα σαπφειρινο μαβι.

I would like to put this memory into words…””

Oh god, how much I know that feeling,

that desire to frame the smells,

the tastes, the looks, the touches.

To put all of them into words…

Though it’s impossible to keep them,

and that they will only come and go

as a sudden rainbow in your head.

And since, Keti is an artist she knows

what I am talking about.

And here is one of her arts.

In a beautiful gesture Keti is giving me, as a gift,

her great book Cavafy – 154 poems,

and writes me dedication that melts my heart.

Keti wants me to remember those chocolate talks we had,

And to keep in mind those soul hours in Athens.

So whenever I’ll hold that Cavafy book in my hands,

I ll close my eyes for few seconds,

and fly to Keti’s Chocolate Shop, see her behind the desk,

making Chocolate drinks, or moving carefully and seriously

her Long fingers, touching those oval brown pieces

as if they are jewelry.

And once in while she picks up her head,

looking at me and smile,

saying something in Greek, or English, and we talk.

And I can smell the magic aroma

and treasure those precious hours,

this beautiful friendship.

Σοκολάτα – Sokolata

In the chocolate shop

The scents of a far-off country

Are wrapped in colored boxes.

Soon they will turn into

Moments of sweet and bitter

Melting in midday.

As Keti conjures up

Her chocolate potion,

From the cocoa beans of the rain forest

One taste is enough to

Send your clouds away.

Σε ευχαριστώ τοσο πολύ αγαπητη μου, φιλη Κετι.

Θα έχουμε την Αθήνα πάντα.

So, if you ever pass by the Σοκολάτα – Sokolata

Treat yourself to one of Keti’s fabulous chocolates,

and give her my love.

Σοκολάτα – Sokolata, on the corner of Voulis 35 and Apollonos 7, Syntagma, 105 57 Athens, Greece.

The website is www.sokolata-athens.gr