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This past week I traveled by train to and from meetings into Washington DC (about 30 miles from home). It was very different from my daily fifteen minute drive to school and work with teenagers. On the second day, standing on the train platform in the warm spring sun, I looked up and found a Corinthian column that gave me a pang of homesickness for Greece. I lived there a long time ago. The sweet memory sent me looking for poetic comfort.
Blue is Greece
By Aliki Barnstone
By Aliki Barnstone
Blue is Greece
where fishermen tame their boats
and islands stand
like white monastery birds
on the Greek flag
of spinning blue,
where the sky has few airplanes
floating like gods,
and if one comes
an angel drops a far banner.
**Bougatsa
A Response in the form of a Skinny from memories of mornings catching a ferry out of Rafina...
Wish Ελληνικά*
blue
morning
peach juice
μπουγάτσα**
blue
morning
peach juice
μπουγάτσα**
Blue
harbor
harbor
boats
dance
blue
Ελληνικά wish.
dance
blue
Ελληνικά wish.
* Greek (Elliniki) --slightly different from Greece in the graphic above. Can't decide which I like better, yet.
**Bougatsa: breakfast pastry
©Linda Mitchell
I think Jama would agree that a bite of bougatsa with this poem in in order....so, here's a little video of an easy bougatsa recipe. ελα...come on!
I think Jama would agree that a bite of bougatsa with this poem in in order....so, here's a little video of an easy bougatsa recipe. ελα...come on!
Oh wow, that sounds fabulous! I love your poem and I love the blue theme developing! (I also really liked your diamante in Imperfect.)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, Linda - thanks for sharing. I didn't know you'd lived in Greece! I've never been, but our son-in-law has and loved Mykonos. I made a custom mixed media piece for someone this past holiday with Greek influences - loved looking at all the blue and white reference pictures. Just gorgeous. And, sounds like tasty too!
ReplyDeleteHow marvelous that you've lived in Greece. I love the idea of the "blue harbor", Linda, and I'd like a piece of bougatsa right now, no waiting for breakfast! Beautiful post sharing your memories!
ReplyDeleteDelicious post today Linda, loved the Bougatsa in your poem and in the video, yum! Greece is a favorite country of mine, the white washed buildings and gorgeous winsor blue Mediterranean will forever be with me, would love to return sometime. Beautiful imagery in your skinny poem, hope it carries you back to Ellada soon, thanks!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you dipped into your memories of Greece and shared them here. What an experience living there must have been! That bougatsa looks amazing--my stomach is grumbling!
ReplyDeleteYou provided us with delicious poetry and pastries. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteLove the blue deliciousness here, Linda!! What a perfect graphic showcasing both poems. Now you've made me yearn to visit Greece again. I've never tasted bougatsa, so thanks for the recipe link, too.:)
ReplyDeleteThanks to you, visiting Greece has just moved a couple notches up on my bucket list, Linda! Such a gorgeous poem by Aliki Barnstone. Your poetic comfort in reply has made me smile... and it's made me hungry too. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a delicious post! One day I would love to visit Greece--all that blue!
ReplyDeleteOh wow! I don't know which I enjoyed most in all your blue ... your memories, your poems (love the skinny) and their presentation, or the bougatsa ... I watched the video and am inspired to try. Your "boats dance" is perfect. That is exactly what the fishing boats did in a harbor in Ecuador--a memory and photos that are among my favorites.
ReplyDeleteYum! That recipe looks wonderful but I must admit that phyllo dough pastries are hard for me to roll out. My friend is Greek and she is an expert with the dough. Thinking about Greece, I did not know that you lived there. How peaceful that must have been. Thanks for taking me there with an all around experience: poems and pastry.
ReplyDeleteYou lived in Greece? How cool are you, my friend! I visited Mykonos back in the 80s during a junior year abroad. The distinct shade of blue is imprinted on my memory for life. And that bougatsa. YUM! Gotta find me some! -- Christie @ https://wonderingandwondering.wordpress.com
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted to see the Greek isles. I've never tried bougatsa, but it sounds delicious.
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful post, Linda! You'll have to tell us more about your time in Greece. What an adventure that must have been. I love your image of boats dancing in a "blue harbor" and agree with others who are now craving a piece of bougatsa!
ReplyDeleteMore blue...with some wistful blue and a side of Grecian blue! You lived there?!? Wow. Jealous.
ReplyDeleteYour post and poem took me back many years to a visit to Greece, and long to get back there soon.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all your work in representing librarians in Washington. Good for you! You deserve a bougatsa!
ReplyDelete