Light Study
The devil stood before him
like the remorseless light which fires the desert;
temptation struck his face
like bursts of scorching wind.
Each time he answered “It is written”
like eyebrows snapping shut.
in this fashion he kept his sight clear
and not a single grain of sand
came to cloud his placid expression.
Now all alone once more
in the evening doldrums
he begins to suspect
that someone is standing behind him.
The shadow falls before his feet,
the shadow has merged with his own.
He must remain here still
remain here fasting
till he can trample the shadow by moonlight
as it keeps growing longer like a lizard.
For forty days and nights he strives
but the shadow keeps falling as before
within the same outline he’d traced
with his finger across the sand.
Time therefore to rise
and move to Galilee.
Let the shadow follow behind
since it is part and parcel of his blood,
let it follow though it whisper:
“You overcame temptation through another’s answers -
this so-called victory was predetermined too.”
So long as he has eyes he will not drive away the shadow
he’ll wait till the rains come and fuse the grains
till the time when his hands can mould the sand
till the light stands before him like a friend and ally.
Translated by John Stathatos
Page(s) 75-76
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