The view from the beachside restaurant isn't so bad and the food is amazing - fish straight out of the sea and onto the plate (via the grill - sorry vegetarians). But fresh vegetables, cheese, fruit and wine that comes from a barrel into a small carafe (which is just big enough) are in abundance too. In the Metamorphosis, Ovid wrote:
Weary of exile, hating Crete, his prison,
Old Daedalus grew homesick for his country...
I can't say I have reached anything like that stage yet. I mean dusting the smattering of ants off the outside table this morning to type this isn't so much of a chore. Nor is this little character, who hopped by and asked about Buddy Holly - this is a picture of the table (as I type) by the way, all onlookers welcome. But goodness there are loads of these little guys and do they make a racket. Though it does seem a bit churlish to complain. But back to Daedalus, King Minos halted escape by controlling sea and land, and what Daedalus recognised then as the, 'Unconfined skies...' are now the common way in and out. And flying has become acceptable and indeed normal in my lifetime. And so all I can say on this final day of the poetry challenge is I am working on the epea pteroenta - the winged words that are getting caught in thought's tangled kite strings. As Ovid wrote about Daedalus (though I claim no artist connection),
...as the artist made his miracles
The artless boy was often in his way. But mixing my metaphor for a moment, while Odysseus has tied himself to his ship (pictured), the Icarus is not to be confused with the Siren coming out of the sky. Last night, while the sun had long gone but the temperature was still up in the thirties, I was strumming, just doodling really around a couple of lines, like 'tangled kite strings,' came from that and 'A kite's twisted tail,' which I stole from Jen Webb in Canberra (how far we travel) came into thought too then it all became a blur invaded by sleep. So this is as far as I got with the song.
I can feel another heartbeat
close up to mine
and time
is open to suggestion
open to surprise
every minute of every day
caught in the strings
of a kite with a twisted tail...
And that's all, it could be a while in the unravelling but that's ok too, it once took me over forty years to start and finish a song called Dance With Me. Today we visit, Χανιά, or Chania as it is translated for us, with its Venitian harbour. I have enjoyed the 5 Day poetry challenge, thank you Tami Haaland. And finally for today, the social unravellings in Australia (which I have been following) suggested the next piece of music, I do like Archie Roach, this is the Lighthouse (song for two mothers) - a bit low down for a sunny morning but that's ok:
