"He left at sunrise,"
the voice informs me.
I visualise the harbour
gleaming, paws of the break-
water honeycombed with rays,
Venetian envoys dreaming.
I too have embarked at Piraeus,
watched the keel cleaving
dark waters like silk, seen
ocean and sky separate
into tissues of light, as dawn
tinges the walls of Chanea.
It is the month when potent blossoms
open in the Samaria; dead queens
glide out of the shades to gather them.
Priestesses adorn their breasts with living
pectorals of snakes, and bearing blood-
red lilies, come the girls.
Note: 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 and elsewhere in Crete.
Spring Fete in Crete
© Copyright: Jena Woodhouse, 2003
Свидетельство о публикации №103022300337
Свидетельство о публикации №103022300337
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