Samaria, Crete
At this moment, having
climbed among boulders
and walked beside water;
having noticed the crags
and the clouds and the eagles,
having sat under oleanders
in flower and spied the Great
Dragon - the sharp, black barb
in the heart-shaped spathe,
the enchanter; at this moment,
pincered in striated walls,
as I write you are picking
your way along narrow trails
in the neck of the gorge,
dazed by the sundance of Crete
in mid-May. I envy the black sand
at Aghia Roumeli, that bastinadoes
your pebble-bruised soles;
I envy the air that you breathe,
the jade sea that receives you.
*The Great Dragon, dracunculus vulgaris, is a lily with large, deep crimson spathes, known to the ancients as an aphrodisiac. It appears in spring in the Gorge of Samaria, in Crete.
Walking the Gorge
© Copyright: Jena Woodhouse, 2003
Свидетельство о публикации №103051300036
Свидетельство о публикации №103051300036
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Jena, it's a real pleasure to read your bright poetry on the background of Cretan landscapes. Tomorrow I plan to visit the Academy and I'll pass best regards from you to kirio Oleko (Papaderos) and tell him about such a fantastic link existing between us!
Sasha.
Александр Рытов 13.08.2003 14:37 • Заявить о нарушении
Sasha.
Александр Рытов 13.08.2003 14:37 • Заявить о нарушении
Sasha, what do you know about the Gorge of the Saints? Although I don't qualify (as a saint), I would love to go there one day. I am told that it can be reached only by sea, and that the nearest port is Ierapetra.
The gorge takes its name from the hundred hermits who once lived there. While one might imagine that it would be difficult to live in solitude with so many others in the vicinity, the terrain of south-eastern Crete is reputedly so wild and rugged that the hermits met only once a year, at a predetermined time and place, to ascertain whether any of their number had passed on and to conduct a requiem for the departed.
They were not known to each other by name or any other personal details, but one hundred stones were arranged in a circle, and when each hermit present was seated on a stone, the unoccupied ones signified that death had claimed those absent. Survival was partly thanks to shepherds, who brought food, or lowered it down the cliffs.
I have heard that there are, in the gorge, some small, ancient and beautiful Byzantine churches.
Perhaps Dr. Papaderos (O Kyrios Alekos) knows more about this place? I was fascinated by what I heard, and always hoped to go there one day, if it were possible and permissible. It must be like another world.
Regards, Jena
Jena Woodhouse 13.08.2003 15:54 Заявить о нарушении
The gorge takes its name from the hundred hermits who once lived there. While one might imagine that it would be difficult to live in solitude with so many others in the vicinity, the terrain of south-eastern Crete is reputedly so wild and rugged that the hermits met only once a year, at a predetermined time and place, to ascertain whether any of their number had passed on and to conduct a requiem for the departed.
They were not known to each other by name or any other personal details, but one hundred stones were arranged in a circle, and when each hermit present was seated on a stone, the unoccupied ones signified that death had claimed those absent. Survival was partly thanks to shepherds, who brought food, or lowered it down the cliffs.
I have heard that there are, in the gorge, some small, ancient and beautiful Byzantine churches.
Perhaps Dr. Papaderos (O Kyrios Alekos) knows more about this place? I was fascinated by what I heard, and always hoped to go there one day, if it were possible and permissible. It must be like another world.
Regards, Jena
Jena Woodhouse 13.08.2003 15:54 Заявить о нарушении