A collection that turns into a selection

M AY B E , I WON’T SPEAK A T A L L

by Vasiliki Sifostratoudaki with Susanna Browne

a ford ka has eyelashes. is it kitsch? odd or unusual? perhaps eccentric or ugly? or even exotic? a woman walks closer and asks, why would they do that? i don’t know‌ strange. i take a picture with my phone as she walks away muttering.

our gardener gives me a tour of the plants in the garden. campanula, judah’s coin, yellow poppy, hortensia, petunia. plants that grow in holland and plants that are imported. he explains to me that plants have a last name, a latin one, which signifies the category they belong to. people sometimes named flowers after their resemblance to symbols and stories from the bible. he goes on... gardening is like cooking. but actually, that applies more to cooking than gardening.

while having a coffee with benjamin and kafka, the men sitting next to me speak half english half dutch. “i love kandinsky, he’s my favourite because his paintings give space to my imagination.”

Romeo + Juliet, Susanna Browne

Anxious and trembling

Sun-beaming eyes, I am too happy

A heart ignorant of love

If you love me you will find out

Passion, Come down

Your presence softens my pain

My best days are past

I wound to heal

Fly with me

You are perfect

I cling to you both in sunshine

Live for me

and shade

Let me go

Bud of a white rose Colchicum Virginia Creeper

Maiden Blush Eglantine Arbor Vitae Butterfly Weed

I offer you my all

Red Columbine White Dittany of Crete, Jacob’s Ladder

Scarlet Lychnis, Milk Vetch Cape Jasmine Pineapple

Venus’s Car Shepherd’s Purse

Excerpt from You Used to Bring Me Flowers, Susanna Browne

information is relayed about the harbour’s size, history and economy. the gender of the voice changes depending on the language. the port of rotterdam feels like the inside of a cathedral. there is a stilness to the sound and movement of the docks. the image of the trip takes on a documentary tempo, my favourite place is home.

we both hesitate, the peaches don’t look good against the orange market stand. we communicate. the old man meets his granddaughter. they are both dressed traditionally, he introduces me. we laugh, they continue on. he does not look for goodbyes.

she thinks that i speak spanish. is it spinach? yes its probably spinach. is that spinach? yes its spinach. difficult to communicate. true. even language could be confused by spinach and spanish. or is just me?

www.vasilikisifostratoudaki.gr

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