Poem: 'Moonflower Meditations'

MOONFLOWER 

MEDITATIONS 

RETHIMNO, KRETA 18.8.92 

“...in the midst of a wine-dark sea…” 

                                           (Homer) 

“I give you answer” 

she teases 

“when the dome 

of the Forteza 

bites 

the setting sun” 

as the Tzitziki 

striate the dusk 

scratching their 

ageless erosions 

her skin ripples with 

fields of oleander, 

her eyes unravel 

scrawls of promise 

I bite back Raki, 

taste its burn, 

the sea gives answer 

all the way to the 

Venetian harbor, 

wine-flamed 

the sun bleeds 

visibly lower, 

slices the black dome 

as razor through skin 

“I give you answer now” 

I watch 

“I forget the question” 

we throw time 

into the 

Cretan 

night 

Published in:
‘TEARS IN THE FENCE no.12’ (UK - March 1994)
‘TARGET no.6: Final Issue’ (UK - April 1999)
‘THE FOUNTAIN / LA FONTANA’ edit Pete Presford (UK – Oct 2003)
and in the collection
‘THE MAN WHO DRANK THE MOON’ edit Pete Presford (UK - March 1994)