‘Oars’ moves through the quiet, radical work of care, where tenderness and intimacy arise not from comfort but through endurance. It speaks to the resilient ‘You,’ who has swallowed darkness, drunk tears, and worn despair – and yet spills light, hope, and the subtle alchemy of presence.
The poem is both witness and invitation: to see suffering, to reach for connection, to be led and to lead. Its closing image – edges (at once boundaries and limbs) dissolving into oars – portrays companionship as navigation, small gestures as repair, intimacy as resistance and balm.
In a world fraying at its edges, ‘Oars’ celebrates care as action, closeness as courage, and poetry as a vessel for gentler worlds – a quiet, persistent pulse of survival, tenderness, and shared humanity.
This poem is part of the poetry collection Éteron ekarterón (Έτερον εκαρτερών), published by Enýpnio editions (εκδόσεις Ενύπνιο).
The project is part of the subtheme The Poetics of Care – Intimacy, Tenderness, Repair.
Author
Angelina Avramoglou
Angelina Avramoglou is a Greek poet living in Athens. She studied Law and completed postgraduate studies in Maritime Law. She works as a lawyer in shipping and is also involved in theater and music. Her poems have appeared in anthologies and literary magazines. Her first poetry collection, Éteron ekarterón (Έτερον εκαρτερών), was published in 2023 by Enýpnio editions (εκδόσεις Ενύπνιο).
