Andros -
Celebration of the Unknown Sailor
the sun
streams
through
windows
like roman
short swords
shadows of cypress
fall
on the bleached
stone village walls
townspeople
wear mounds of clothes
huddle under
the shadows
from the olive
orchard
sleep a light
afternoon sleep
dream of fresh
pears
and fields of
tan wheat
twelve hundred
and fourteen
carved stone
steps down
to the slow
roll of the mediterranean
the harbor sunken
since the sixth century
water and
empire and
glory
greek children
dive off the cliffs
see who can
swim deepest
through swarms
of silver fish igniting in the sun
jumbled blocks
of stone loom up in answer
the bones gone
the names
petrified
just then the
people wake
to the ringing
of church bells
they walk the
long walk to the sea
scatter petals
of roses everywhere