Memories
Become a
Premium Member
and post notes and photos about your poem like Demetrios Trifiatis.
" LIFE " MY PHOTO, DRIVING AT 3500 feet altitude ©

Life was harsh for me
very harsh from the beginning, in the little village in Greece.
We hardly had anything to eat because everything was
destroyed by WW2 and by the five years of civil war
that followed.
By the age of ten,
I had already lost my father and three siblings.
The two little girls I saw died, and I narrowly escaped death myself,
after five months of battle against typhus.
By fourteen, I lost my mother, and from the age of fifteen
I lived alone.
For as long as I remember I was working,
working and studying.
The money was little, and the hours of work many.
I was hungry and without shelter for long periods of time.
I was bitten, laughed at, betrayed, and treated unjustly
but
I never gave up my dream to be educated,
never stopped working harder and harder
never lost hope and most of all never lost my faith in God, who
has adopted me after my parent's departure,
thus
one day I immigrated to Canada, the country I owe
my wellbeing.
I worked even harder over there
and went through English and French-speaking universities till
I got my BA, MA, and Ph.D. then started to teach, got married,
and had children.
I traveled around the world and have met people from
all walks of life:
Evil men and saints
rich men and very poor ones
educated and uneducated
prominent and ordinary people.
I met presidents, prime ministers, patriarchs, mullahs
and because of my humanitarian work, I met criminals,
thieves, murderers, rapists.
All these experiences have helped me accumulate a treasure of memories
that makes me feel rich beyond measure.
A treasure from which I can withdraw large amounts each day,
without ever my wealth being reduced to the least,
memories that certainly could last for many lifetimes!
All this
because life was so harsh but also so rewarding in experiences and lessons.
I thank God for giving me the courage to overcome the many physical and emotional hurdles that I found on my way.
I thank him for His protection and for making me what I am today! *
© Demetrios Trifiatis
04 July 2020
* This is my 2700th poem posted here. I thank all those who have supported me and all those who have fought against me, for the first gave me the courage to continue, and the latter gave me a reason to fight! ( Not for a contest!)
** To all my American friends, I wish Happy fourth of July!
Copyright © Demetrios Trifiatis | Year Posted 2020
Post Comments
Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.
Please
Login
to post a comment