Enlighten Me, Enlightenment
City of orgies, walks and joys,
City whom that I have lived and sung in your midst will one day make
Not the pageants of you, not your shifting tableaus, your
spectacles, repay me,
Not the interminable rows of your houses, nor the ships at the wharves,
Nor the processions in the streets, nor the bright windows with
goods in them,
Nor to converse with learn'd persons, or bear my share in the soiree
or feast;
Not those-
Troubled phantoms line the shores with hollowed eyes do watch
the past break skeletons on crag'd rocks below.
I like to sit upon the pier behind the apartments on weekends when the weather is clear and look out over the waves toward the isles I know lay leagues upon leagues away. I miss them dearly- I miss my Lesbos. I miss the homeland. The last bit of news I have had the pleasure of gleaning from the internet- of all things- is the restoration of Panagia Faneromeni and the Paleokastro citadel on Nisyros.
That is not to say that I entirely dismiss this City of walks and joys- far be it. With a capable employee at my side and the most beautiful of flowers now my walking companion, what more could a woman ask for?
More space, perhaps. For these cats that continue to overflow in abundance within my home... Perchance would someone like to take a kitten off my hands? Or three? One of the felines gave birth to a litter and the creatures have just reached an age it would be safe to leave.
City whom that I have lived and sung in your midst will one day make
Not the pageants of you, not your shifting tableaus, your
spectacles, repay me,
Not the interminable rows of your houses, nor the ships at the wharves,
Nor the processions in the streets, nor the bright windows with
goods in them,
Nor to converse with learn'd persons, or bear my share in the soiree
or feast;
Not those-
Troubled phantoms line the shores with hollowed eyes do watch
the past break skeletons on crag'd rocks below.
I like to sit upon the pier behind the apartments on weekends when the weather is clear and look out over the waves toward the isles I know lay leagues upon leagues away. I miss them dearly- I miss my Lesbos. I miss the homeland. The last bit of news I have had the pleasure of gleaning from the internet- of all things- is the restoration of Panagia Faneromeni and the Paleokastro citadel on Nisyros.
That is not to say that I entirely dismiss this City of walks and joys- far be it. With a capable employee at my side and the most beautiful of flowers now my walking companion, what more could a woman ask for?
More space, perhaps. For these cats that continue to overflow in abundance within my home... Perchance would someone like to take a kitten off my hands? Or three? One of the felines gave birth to a litter and the creatures have just reached an age it would be safe to leave.