Best Acropolis Poems
If you judge food with the quantity put before you
Then my first choice will be the Victoria Hotel*.
On Sunday lunch, food is too plentiful, makes you blue.
There we will eat so much it will make our tummies swell.
In my travels, I had times when food was super great.
Like when in sunny Ireland we drove up a high hill.
Fragrant smell of seafood, an inevitable bait,
And who cared about driving, chilled white wine was a thrill.
Athens and the Acropolis, a sight to explore.
We descended on foot and found a farm that served meals
We poured some white wine I had never tasted before,
Various cuts of lamb tastefully spiced, worth the deals.
One surprise was in Switzerland, on a mountain high.
My wife and I opted for a trout for the first time.
It was deliciously tasteful, we could almost fly.
We shared a second helping, costed many a dime.
I suppose there are other good times when food excelled,
But Urk in Holland was my biggest surprise of all.
A shack near the sea served food but not even a smell
We ate the finest fresh sole, the chef we had to call.
But the worst food I partook in was in old Brazil
Only meat and hormone-fed chicken, cooked with no skill.
NB The Victoria Hotel is situated in Sliema, Malta, not far from where I live. The food there is always first class, except for the wine :)
In Nineteen ninety-six, our son and wife, Majors
In US Army, moved to Izmir, their new base.
As usual, whatever place they were assigned,
We flew to visit them as well as dear grandkids.
So off we went to spend two weeks in Turkey, this
Outstanding country we had never been before.
So much to see at Ephesus—Metropolis
Of Antique Age; The Stadium, the Harbor Bath,
Basilica, the Marble Road, Heracles Gate—
All ruins now. Were sad to see these wondrous works
Of art and architecture now in disarray
And strewn about on fields on which they proudly stood.
Of varied striking sites in Pergamon, we saw
The City Walls, the Aqueducts, Acropolis,
The Temple Dionysus, that of Trajan too.
So many ages, periods had ruled this place,
Artistic wonders, structures turned to ruins—works
Of Persian, Greek, Roman and more, in pieces lay.
Besides the many ancient ruins visited,
We were amazed that many locals spoke our tongue.
They did their best to make us feel so much at ease,
Were gracious in combined Mid-Eastern/Euro style
Of hospitality and types of food they ate
And served, like cheese, tomatoes, olives of all kinds.
Izmir, a city mixed with culture old and new,
Like modern shops and open markets, outdoor stands
With fish and meats on ice, yet weighed on modern scales.
And women with fine bread on plates held up on heads,
Who walked the streets in morning, dressed in peasant garb;
Yet working business women wore more modern dress.
We ventured to the famous city, Istanbul,
Surprised to see the many high-rise buildings there,
And streets so overcrowded with their vehicles;
Large offices and business centers everywhere—
Ladies with fashion boots, purses and western dress;
Big contrast with those living back in country hills.
Such history surrounds this ancient, distant land;
So many varied cultures ruled their sacred world.
Museums filled with artifacts from centuries,
Safeguarded and in view to honor and behold.
This trip shall always hold such special, vivid thoughts
For us to cherish and remember for all time.
Of course, this one-time trip was many years ago;
We're happy we had ventured then instead of now,
For times have changed; such unrest grows within our world.
Sandra M. Haight
~1st Place~
Contest: Memorable Vacations
Sponsor: Shadow Hamilton
Judged: May 8, 2015
Iambic Hexameter
A. Anarchy
Amber autumn aflame
An aroma of ash appeases the adamant arsonist; the artful anarchist
An audacious attempt at attacking back at our arbitrary accommodations
The ascended advocate us to abide as they affirm their advancement through annihilation
An abstract artifice, artificial affirmation of all aspects
Treated like an array of aliens in our allowed acropolis with the armor turned against us
Most amused with their asinine aspirations and amaurotic attractions
A few too apprehensive to argue and ask for an alternative, afraid of any altercation
But the agitated and annoyed assemble, ascertaining truth through awareness at every angle
Amateur acts of anger arise and accelerate, accompanying their adverse assault on our amendments
The alliance ablaze and amassing, anticipating an apocalyptic ambush
Absolution remains absent and anger becomes anxiety among those abandoned
The affluent assure abolishment for the average and all under
Demesne
at Pergamon
stirred an epiphany.
The Aqueducts, Acropolis,
propinquity, Temple Dionysus,
Trajan Temple- all so magnificent.
Persian, Greek, and Roman wonders;
some standing, most lying...
erstwhile kingdoms,
all gone.
I viewed
and imagined
robust efflorescence
that once filled this bucolic place.
Dalliance here, much too ephemeral.
Damp ruins- yellow soil stirred petrichor.
Wild grass, broken art; redolent
grave serendipity...
wars...harbinger...
of loss.
March 20, 2016
~1st Place~
Contest: A Day In A Town
Sponsor: Nayda Ivette Negron
Judged: 04/14/2016
Required words in order of appearance:
demesne, epiphany, propinquity, erstwhile, efflorescence, bucolic, dalliance, ephemeral, petrichor, redolent, serendipity, harbinger
From ~ LARGE ~ to ~ small ~
K~Konstantin had travelled the world in unbeknown searching~g
A~Ariadne lost the plot and her thread a modern Sisyphus on the run~n
R~Raised in mathematical precision he questioned logic and Pi~i
M~Meandered streams of his mind with no delta or source without fill~l
A~Archimedes had drowned in the bathtub and produced wanton spill~l
C~Cartesian logic and Newton merely kindled heated debate full of lava~a
A~Acropolis Bergen Belsen Cairo Constantinople Calcutta a firm cul-de-sac~c
L~‘Leave cause and effect behind for a while on its quest for mens sana’~a
L~‘Life happens when you follow the flow squared circles teach no realm’~m
I ~In sight of the Ganges loin cloth in hand near naked emerges a star~r
N~Nirvana does not fall from the tree but intentions and actions feed Karma~a
G~‘Go resolve not hurt sentient beings and the world will be a little less sick’~k
27th April 2018
Oh, Parthenon,*
Sublime aesthetic structure,
Embodiment of unparalleled elegance,
Incarnation of history, philosophy, and sciences,
Everlasting beacon of human civilization,
Glorification of architecture,
Pride of the Western world
You, the deathless temple of Athena,
Undeniably, it reflects the harmonious blending:
Of matter with the form,
Of man with God,
Of the temporal with the eternal.
In you, one may easily discern:
The drama of Sophocles,
The wisdom of Socrates,
The reason of Plato, and
The logic of Aristotle incorporated
Into
The ageless white marble, that the
Everlasting mountain of Pendelikon so
Generously has offered
And
The skilled hands of Phidias and Ictinus,
So expertly have shaped, into a
Never-ending hymn of worldly beauty,
Ascending to the heavens of perfection
As a thanksgiving to the wisdom of the divine and as
A never-dying monument to human creativity and
Understanding
Oh, Parthenon, before your perpetual magnificence,
Humbly I bow!
© Demetrios Trifiatis
13 JANUARY 2013
*One of the crowning monuments of the world and, unquestionably,
one of the finest is the Parthenon, the ancient temple of Athena, daughter of
Zeus, Goddess of wisdom.
Built between 447 and 438 B.C. during the Archonship of Pericles on the most
prominent spot of the Acropolis- a rocky hill of 158 meters above sea level-
Parthenon has dominated since then with its extraordinary architectural splendor, not only in the land of Attica and the rest of Greece but also, one may say, the mind and the soul of the entire world!
Kissed by the rebel mouth of Dionysus
set tight against their fulsome lips;
lapped into shapes by intoxicant tongues,
arms fused in a chain of swaying hips.
Tiptoe this sisterhood of Athena,
this trio in bright synchrony;
blown back on Acropolis stilettos,
risen skirts above the stockinged knee.
Aphrodite waged love at closest quarters,
hair and smiles in abandonment;
cocked ears unto the night owl's dreaming cry,
dancing rings on cracked cement.
And in their gentle, giddy transit
do these Three graces reincarnate;
resurrected in neon and nicotine apparel,
a vodka cocktail triumvirate.
With clicks of glitzy, glittery nails,
Beauty, Love and Pleasure burn the midnight oil;
the winds of Olympus ply their skin,
bled as one with each other on urban soil.
A graffiti collision of sensual ephemera
sprayed on a backdrop of brick and grime,
Three graces raised up by the ancient gods
from the mists and depths of mythic time.
Oh to see the marriage of their personas
bared in a nocturne, driven weeping,
only one lone gaze imbibes the miracle
for the world and his wife lie blind and sleeping...
Ancient fortress, the wind carried to me your silent call,
Commune with your warring deities way deep in my soul.
Rooted among the scarred ruins strewn through the ages,
On thy hallowed ground I stand to pay my humble homage.
Parthenon, implore Athena to shield the shining city
Over whose skylines you kept watch for centuries.
Like an eagle surveying this Hellenic kingdom
In majestic splendor - now and forevermore -
Stay regally proud, mighty and strong.
RECORDS OF PAST HISTORY
The past wasn’t all that great and the so-called “achievements” - say -
Of the past pale when we compare them to our capabilities today.
Egyptians built the fearsome Great Pyramid weighing 6 million tons in 20 years;
We dump 7 million tons of rubbish every year in the Atlantic without fears.
Moses parted the Red Sea for a while to allow escape;
But the Soviets made the Aral Sea disappear entirely from the landscape.
Moses also made the Egyptian Nile turn red for hours -
The English chemical industry constantly turns the River Tees red, and sours.
History’s important Punic Wars sadly killed 160 000 people in twenty years,
But US road accidents kill the same number in only 4 years - no tears.
More EU harvested grain is burnt weekly, to combat low-price fear,
Than a whole year of growing in the mighty Roman Empire economic sphere.
5000 people ate fish and bread with Christ : there were left 12 baskets of good food.
5000 can eat with McDonalds with no good food at all, just business shrewd.
Great Wall of China used to be most important cultural object seen from spaceflight;
Now that’s nonsense, it is in fact Las Vegas at night.
We have been capable of eroding the Acropolis much in forty years.
How much erosion from two millennia of great civilizations? Nowhere near!
Every fifteen years or so, one meteor impact can destroy 80 million trees;
We remove that from the world’s forests every week with ease.
Yes our civilization is a world beater
Not just a record-from-the-past repeater
Act of Love
Part1
Cain and Abel
no love lost
the bible
filled with blood
where is love?
White doves flies high
mocking those who preach
love
fields sowed in hate
at the acropolis
History repeats
the reaper has many followers
flying religious flags
bow and arrows ready in
anger, yet still their blood weeps
Black flocks of the orthodox
abusing children sweet
evil in candy colors
tastes sour yet pastries they shall tempt
In darkness, all the gods hold contempt
Beware the man luring with flowers
seeking the unholy
havoc on the generations
the universe will build for him
his very own black hole
believe in love without gods power
the universe is
the garden of good and evil
twisting inside atoms and eve
able is the scientific mind
I've never thought that i would feel this way,
But it finally happened somehow someday;
And i drowned in the deep oceans that looked at me.
I got dazzled by this smile everytime i see
These petals opening softly revealing wonderful pearls;
And everytime this breeze fonndles my skin, my heart twirls.
How i wish to stay forever in this acropolis of passion!
How i admire those two loyal guards fulfilling their mission!
Look at the heavens sparkling in those skies
Making it hell when it comes to goodbyes...
But some dreams are meant to never come true,
Like the one of falling asleep next to you
Because, as they say, the moon is not allowed to rise on the majestic wooden cross
But what a shame of this culture and what a terrible loss...
I had to accept to fall back on earth
A place where cruelty took birth!
Even though they broke my wings, i'll climb as high as i can get
To try and find the heavens that i would never forget.
It is slowly juxtaposition,
an oldies reith for an acoustic-ness-
and we make a mock,
drain the corner stores mox....
Engravings in luck and harmonious-
they take a tail for a toc,
malevolence out of the box,
on the streets-
in levy and over the acropolis,
like crumbly even and corny thermopolis-
how the havens in heaven must shine inside...
How many travels say they coincide?
Even in a sailing away against all storm's periphery,
dynamite at the dreamy renditions are trickery-
a pleasure of the presence is no outer measure of some other type of compression!
Once, I took some colleagues from a British university to the Acropolis for a tour of the Parthenon.
As I was explaining to my guests the history of the structure, I turned towards the ancient Agora (Market) below, and in a teasing mood, I told them:
" There is the Agora where Socrates was walking every day discussing matters of philosophy, so when you gentlemen pass onto the other side, you will have the chance to ask him questions that concern you!"
At that moment, the head of the Computer Department of that university, who had declared himself an atheist, turned towards me and asked:
" Do you, Demetrios, believe in the theory of the afterlife?"
" Most certainly I do!" With emphasis, I replied.
" Then, my friend, " My interlocutor continued, " you will be surprised."
" Why would I be surprised?" I asked.
" ...because there would be nothing of what you believe to be there." He explained.
" If things are as you say, my friend, it will not be me who will be surprised but you," I retorted with a smile.
" How come? " He asked with interest.
" Because, my friend, if your theory is correct and we do not go on living after death, I will not exist, therefore it will be impossible for me to be surprised, but if my theory is correct and our souls continue their existence after death you will be surprised, dear colleague, for though you expect nothing to be there after you depart from this life you will find out there is something after all," I explained.
My colleague listened with interest to my argument, and after I finished, he posed for a while and then turned towards me and declared:
" If you put it like this, Demetrios, I must admit, you are right." Then he burst out laughing, and the same did the rest of the professors there, and the echo of their laughter reached the Agora bellow and even the ears of Socrates in the heavens. *
© Demetrios Trifiatis
23 June 2018
*This Narration is a true story and comes after my little poem: "THE GREAT SURPRISE. " posted earlier today!
Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
Phidias by his labor sculpted you into a majestic temple
Atop the craggy Acropolis to watch over Athens beautiful,
Rugged boulders, pine forests, ancient agoras and all.
The mighty god Poseidon lusted for the siren call of your city.
Her wisdom dictating, goddess Athena won't cede it away.
Eons ago you rose up for Athena and till this day you survive,
Not anticipated by Pericles and other mortals, dead or alive.
Only you alone for sure can tell the rest of humanity why
None could put you down though centuries had gone by.
I married marble, that ancient stone.
I married stories, of long ago.
I married the muses, and all of Troy,
Helen and that war.
The Odyssey and all Homer’s songs.
The Acropolis, and the Parthenon,
All these things,
And so much more,
Came with my wedding ring, I now wear.
Just a simple band of gold,
Brought with it,
An olive branch of old,
For my children to recognize,
As their ancient heritage, a culture of stone.
All I ask is for them to,
Feel the marble within their veins.
As they now go about their modern lives.
This I pray as I sit,
Meditating on my favored, Christian image,
The Blessed Kiss,
I believe that balance of spirit will come one day.
Inspired by my Greek married life, as Rose Raikos. New and different from my childhood of a daughter of Jack(R.I.P.1984) and Mary Bibby.