The Years of the Ineffable

120 × 170 SPINE: 1.8 FLAPS: 70

AGORI GREKOU

The Years of the Ineffable AG O R I G R E KO U

I

fought my way through plots and lies.

I walked on twisted roads. I learned to recognize some of the traits of the skilful, heartless manipulators. That’s what I learned.

I did my best.

The Years of the Ineffable

Agori Grekou was born in Greece.

She grew up in Athens and Boonton N.J. (USA). She studied French and Comparative Literature in France (Sorbonne NouvelleParis III: Maîtrise, DEA) and Modern Greek Literature in Greece (Nat. University of Athens: Ph.D. Degree). She worked as a language teacher and as a researcher and has published studies on various literary subjects (literary periodicals, Symbolism, Pure poetry). She now lives in Germany and Greece and is writing a book on Symbolist poetry. She already published a book of literary prose (Meine Geschichte, Ocelotos, 2014).

More info www.agori-grekou.com

ISBN 978-960-564-297-6 Vatatzi 55, 114 73 Athens Greece TEL. : 210 6431108 ekdoseis.ocelotos@gmail.com www. ocelotos. gr

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The Years of the Ineffable

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The Years of the Ineffable AGORI GREKOU

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Title THE YEARS OF THE INEFFABLE Author Agori Grekou

Cover Design by Loreto Poblete-Vio based on a drawing

by Agori Grekou

Book design Myrtilo, graphic arts Copyright© 2015 Agori Grekou Ledergasse 65 Schwäbisch Gmünd 73525 Germany www.agori-grekou.com

First Publication Athens, September 2015 ISBN 978-960-564-297-6

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage or retrieval systems may take place without the written permission of the author.

Vatatzi 55 str., 114 73 Athens ΤEL. : 210 6431108 www. ocelotos. gr E-MAIL: ekdoseis.ocelotos@gmail.com

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«Oui, Messieurs, un lourdaud, un animal, un âne: Que l’ on m’ amène un âne, un âne renforcé, Je le rendrai maître passé, Et veux qu’il porte la soutane.» [...]

LA FONTAINE “Le Charlatan”, Fables , VI, 19

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AUTHOR’S NOTE

I.

When I was a student

11

II.

I still wonder

12

III.

One day Sadi

13

IV. Sadi and Odette V.

You can’t fight them all

14 15

VI. It was then and there

16

VII. No, not really everything

17

VIII. I’ve seen so many of them

18

IX. In fact, I was severely criticized

19

X.

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9

I used to have friends

20

XI. My friends

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XII. Actually it was just a turning point

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XIII. Actually some people

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XIV. Some friends don’t die

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XV. Prof. Sympethera

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XVI. Thats’s how the story goes

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XVII. There is always a reason

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Author’s Note I’ll never forget the beauty of things past: the jasmines’ aroma, the pink rose and the little yoghurt...

Some childhood remembrances don’t fade away.

In a way, this story is a sequel to Meine Geschichte.

Somewhat more instructive. It’s about a Poet and his Muse but also about Satan and possibly his servants… And about all those people in between…

Because I think we’re in desperate need of modern tales.

—9—

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I. When I was a student, I met a Poet called Sadi.

What do poets do? They write small phrases with precious words. Sometimes.

Like all bad things that happened to me, Sadi walked into my life through the front door, uninvited, an already bad company to a very fresh acquaintance: a much younger person, a woman –let’s call her Odette– who had persuaded me that life had been unkind to her… Her father had left her mother for another woman when she was four, she and her little brother were left alone at home, almost starving...

By the time I met Odette she was twenty-three and a student, working as au pair for a wealthy family she befriended. Of course Sadi, her fiancé, was protective, generous and kind to her but he was also jealous, possessive and oppressive…

Above all, Sadi knew the right people.

I believed in love.

Odette had asked for a pair of shoes. I didn’t know then who the right people were. I repeated the same mistake over and over again. I never asked the right questions. I had been doing that since I was a child. My mother had told me always to be good. It all started that day in Paris. It was my fault. Being naive was my fault.

— 11 —

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120 × 170 SPINE: 1.8 FLAPS: 70

AGORI GREKOU

The Years of the Ineffable AG O R I G R E KO U

I

fought my way through plots and lies.

I walked on twisted roads. I learned to recognize some of the traits of the skilful, heartless manipulators. That’s what I learned.

I did my best.

The Years of the Ineffable

Agori Grekou was born in Greece.

She grew up in Athens and Boonton N.J. (USA). She studied French and Comparative Literature in France (Sorbonne NouvelleParis III: Maîtrise, DEA) and Modern Greek Literature in Greece (Nat. University of Athens: Ph.D. Degree). She worked as a language teacher and as a researcher and has published studies on various literary subjects (literary periodicals, Symbolism, Pure poetry). She now lives in Germany and Greece and is writing a book on Symbolist poetry. She already published a book of literary prose (Meine Geschichte, Ocelotos, 2014).

More info www.agori-grekou.com

ISBN 978-960-564-297-6 Vatatzi 55, 114 73 Athens Greece TEL. : 210 6431108 ekdoseis.ocelotos@gmail.com www. ocelotos. gr

ΕΚΔΟΣΕΙΣ

ο σ ε λ ότ ο ς

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9/14/2015 12:43:03 PM