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| Rizal Tanjung |
Rizal Tanjung
A Poetic Review of the poem "I Wish" by Eva Petropoulou Lianou.
In the poem "I Wish", Eva Petropoulou Lianou threads her longings into soft strands of silence—each line a whisper of absence, a sigh folded into the shape of hope. This is not merely a lament; it is a portrait of the soul reaching for the intangible: love without conditions, friendship that listens, understanding that needs no words. The poem blooms from a soil of longing, watered by what the world withholds.
It begins with:
"I wish I had a love / A love as it should be / No more take and take..."
—an aching simplicity that cuts deep. This is not just a plea for affection but a cry for reciprocity. Love, here, is not a garden tended together but one constantly harvested by one and ignored by the other. The repetition of “take and take” conjures a love that has turned into erosion—steadily wearing away the giver.
Then comes a yearning for companionship:
"I wish I had a friend / As friends should be / Be close to hard times / Listen to our wishes / Support us"
—these lines unveil the poet’s belief in friendship not as a social transaction but as a sanctuary. A friend is imagined here as a lamp in the storm, a listener in the age of noise, a presence that anchors the ship when the sea rages. These lines echo with the warmth of what is absent.
The poem deepens further with:
"I wish I had met a person / That could understand me / Only from my eyes / Or my mood"
—here lies the quiet desperation of the soul: to be seen, truly seen, without having to translate the heart. The poet dreams of a connection so intimate that even a glance or a silence is a complete sentence. The “eyes” and the “mood” become symbols of emotional language that words cannot reach.
And then, the turn:
"But if I had all that / Maybe I would never write poems"
—this is the fulcrum of the piece. It is the poet’s revelation that from the void, from absence and longing, poetry is born. Fulfillment may quiet the pen, but it is the ache that sharpens the ink. This is not resignation—it is recognition: the wound is the wellspring.
Finally, she declares:
"Poetry is my path / Poetry is my strength"
—these last lines are not just affirmations but a reclamation. Poetry, for Eva, is not a luxury—it is the scaffold of her being. In it, she finds her breath, her power, and her purpose. It is the road she walks when the roads of love and friendship remain closed. Poetry becomes her sanctuary, her mirror, her rebellion.
Meaning and Metaphor:
"I Wish" is a quiet but potent poem that reflects the emotional architecture of a soul that has learned to live in longing. Each stanza unveils a universal hunger: for love, connection, and understanding. But it is not sorrow that defines the poem—it is what the sorrow creates.
This poem suggests that beauty does not always arise from joy. Sometimes, it is the lack of what we seek that compels us to create. Absence becomes a muse, and poetry becomes the home we build when no one waits for us.
Eva Petropoulou Lianou doesn’t simply write poetry—she transforms solitude into song. In this piece, she offers not just a glimpse into her own heart, but into the shared human experience of yearning, and how that yearning gives birth to art.
In the end, "I Wish" is not a poem about what is missing, but about what emerges because something is missing. It reminds us that in the quiet corners of longing, poetry grows like wildflowers in forgotten fields.
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EVA Petropoulou Lianou
Poem
I wish i had a love
A love as it should be
No more take and take...
I wish I had a friend
As friends should be
Be close to hard times
Listen to our wishes
Support us
I wish i had met a person
That could understand me
Only from my eyes
Or my mood
But if i had all that
Maybe i would never write poems
Poetry is my path
Poetry is my strength
©®Eva Petropoulou Eva Lianou Eva Petropoulou Lianou-Author
