This Cretan earth of ours, wherever you dig it
You will find blood of heroes, you will turn up their bones.
(Cretan rizitiko - traditional)
They favour black for mourning and for feasts,
high boots as the heritage of rebels;
when they sing, the eyes of klephts and priests
burn deep as branding irons
in faces that seem chiselled out of basalt.
In their songs, the droning of the planes,
the mountains darkening; the sea
convulsed with conflict and with rage;
a muttering of thunder like a curse
upon their homeland; the eagles' wings,
the parachutes in flames...
In their songs, the droning of crazed bees
whose hives are burning; the death-dance
before firing squads, the women
drunk with pain. A wild note of resistance
like a torrent roaring through a gorge -
the spirit that snatched freedom from its grave
cries out again...
Klepht (Greek): brigand
The Battle of Crete took place in May, 1941.
Cretan Singers
© Copyright: Jena Woodhouse, 2003
Свидетельство о публикации №103050700806
Свидетельство о публикации №103050700806
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Thank You, dear Jena, for some very lovely minutes of reading your work! )))) Two years before I visited German cemetery in Maleme. It was a real chance to feel the spirit of that Battle. My old friend is a grandson of General Rodimtsev, the hero of Stalingrad. We had a very interesting talk with the War Museum Director, a German, whose grandfather was killed in Crete in May 1941. The major idea of our conversation was the fact that our peoples managed to overcome the inner feeling of agressiveness to each other. And it was great. We shook hands saying that we met at the cemetery of peace, not the cemetery of war.
This Sunday I leave for Chania. If I find a chance, I'll write to you from this wonderful island, so loved by you and me.
Sasha
Александр Рытов 06.08.2003 18:33 • Заявить о нарушении
This Sunday I leave for Chania. If I find a chance, I'll write to you from this wonderful island, so loved by you and me.
Sasha
Александр Рытов 06.08.2003 18:33 • Заявить о нарушении
Dear Sasha, I thank you!! It is an unexpected pleasure to find some of my own journeys converging with those of a poet on this page. It was the commemoration of the Battle of Crete that took me to Chania every year in May, as a matter of fact, with Embassy officials and parties of Australian veterans who had taken part in that battle and subsequently been hidden by partisans - old men now, but on fire with their memories. And I heard such vivid accounts from Cretan partisans, some of whom had worked for the resistance as children, some of whom had been orphaned by firing squads. One such person, Markos, still haunted by the memory of his parents' executions, told me his story. He gave me permission to write this poem, which I reproduce for you. I have tried to honour the spirit in which it was given to me - with unassuming nobility, without rancour or recrimination.
Face of the Enemy
for Markos
One of the German planes shot down
contained a pink-cheeked youth,
the blue and gold of wheat-
fields in his eyes and hair,
the breath warm on cherubic
lips, the life-force hovering -
just there, where grotesque buds
blossomed upside-down in air.
A Cretan boy, the first to reach
the fuselage, can still recall
the young man's face, and tells
how every summer under Hitler
the dead paratrooper's parents
came to sit, silent in olive shade,
beside the grave where partisans
had laid their blond
and blue-eyed child.
It's not really possible to do justice to the stories I heard. Not having experienced those events, it's as if one doesn't have the right. But I, too, have visited Malleme, by the way. If you have ever been to the Orthodox Academy of Crete, at Kolimbari, perhaps you have met its director, Dr. Alexandros Papaderos, a former child partisan whose village was burned by the occupation forces. When he was about eight years old, he was a runner for the resistance, carrying messages over the mountains at night, with a cyanide pill in his pocket in case he was caught. He and other children were eventually imprisoned (at Aghia, I think), and destined for deportation to Dachau. At the time I met Dr. Papaderos, he had established a centre to promote international peace at the Orthodox Academy at Kolimbari. They were doing inspiring things there, reaching out and touching hearts and minds, bringing people together.
Later, I used to go to Chania and Rethymnon for the British Council, as an examiner for the Cambridge exams, and I interviewed hundreds of Cretan children from the villages as well as the towns. So Crete has made a lasting impression, as you can see...
Thank you again, Sasha, for sharing your experiences with me. This contact means a lot. And enjoy Chania - for me too!
Jena
Jena Woodhouse 06.08.2003 22:07 Заявить о нарушении
Face of the Enemy
for Markos
One of the German planes shot down
contained a pink-cheeked youth,
the blue and gold of wheat-
fields in his eyes and hair,
the breath warm on cherubic
lips, the life-force hovering -
just there, where grotesque buds
blossomed upside-down in air.
A Cretan boy, the first to reach
the fuselage, can still recall
the young man's face, and tells
how every summer under Hitler
the dead paratrooper's parents
came to sit, silent in olive shade,
beside the grave where partisans
had laid their blond
and blue-eyed child.
It's not really possible to do justice to the stories I heard. Not having experienced those events, it's as if one doesn't have the right. But I, too, have visited Malleme, by the way. If you have ever been to the Orthodox Academy of Crete, at Kolimbari, perhaps you have met its director, Dr. Alexandros Papaderos, a former child partisan whose village was burned by the occupation forces. When he was about eight years old, he was a runner for the resistance, carrying messages over the mountains at night, with a cyanide pill in his pocket in case he was caught. He and other children were eventually imprisoned (at Aghia, I think), and destined for deportation to Dachau. At the time I met Dr. Papaderos, he had established a centre to promote international peace at the Orthodox Academy at Kolimbari. They were doing inspiring things there, reaching out and touching hearts and minds, bringing people together.
Later, I used to go to Chania and Rethymnon for the British Council, as an examiner for the Cambridge exams, and I interviewed hundreds of Cretan children from the villages as well as the towns. So Crete has made a lasting impression, as you can see...
Thank you again, Sasha, for sharing your experiences with me. This contact means a lot. And enjoy Chania - for me too!
Jena
Jena Woodhouse 06.08.2003 22:07 Заявить о нарушении
Dear Jena!
I think that it's not just a coincidence that we acquainted with you. It's destiny! Dr. Alexandros Papaderos is a good friend of my family. First time I appeared at Orthodox Academy in 1993 with my students whom I taught the modern history of Greece. We spent 10 unforgetable days. Walking, swimming, listening to the lectures of some experts in religion, ecology and tourism. I fell in love with this place impressed by the hospitality of Papaderos, his family and the staff of the Orthodox Academy. Since that moment I travel almost every august to Colimbari and visit Academy and its Director. We sit at the second floor veranda veiwing the sea and wonderful Colimbari gulf with its rocks and the kri-kri island. We speak we go to the small local gallery and etc.
And the other moment which is interesting is that my niece is going to New Zeland in September. Her husband is New Zelander and his new contract is going to be at his motherland.)))
It's so pleasant unexpected and exciting that we have too much in common!
Sasha
Александр Рытов 06.08.2003 23:31 Заявить о нарушении
I think that it's not just a coincidence that we acquainted with you. It's destiny! Dr. Alexandros Papaderos is a good friend of my family. First time I appeared at Orthodox Academy in 1993 with my students whom I taught the modern history of Greece. We spent 10 unforgetable days. Walking, swimming, listening to the lectures of some experts in religion, ecology and tourism. I fell in love with this place impressed by the hospitality of Papaderos, his family and the staff of the Orthodox Academy. Since that moment I travel almost every august to Colimbari and visit Academy and its Director. We sit at the second floor veranda veiwing the sea and wonderful Colimbari gulf with its rocks and the kri-kri island. We speak we go to the small local gallery and etc.
And the other moment which is interesting is that my niece is going to New Zeland in September. Her husband is New Zelander and his new contract is going to be at his motherland.)))
It's so pleasant unexpected and exciting that we have too much in common!
Sasha
Александр Рытов 06.08.2003 23:31 Заявить о нарушении
Слов нет! Yes, it is indeed uncanny how people and events link up. In fact, I'm stunned. I was interested, too, to hear that you have taught modern Greek history. I think this dialogue will be continued. Jena
Jena Woodhouse 07.08.2003 00:12 Заявить о нарушении
Jena Woodhouse 07.08.2003 00:12 Заявить о нарушении