Saturday, June 4, 2011

Birthplace (Poem)

Birthplace

Greek islands:
your myth my legend
father's hands
cast open,
mine to trace sea-deep, rock-carved
gods my sun-kissed guides.

© 2011 Maureen E. Doallas
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We know little about my late father, a first-generation American, orphaned at age four, his father a Greek. I do imagine myself in Greece one day, map of roots in hand, following the arc begun in my father's father's birthplace to a new home in a small town in Massachusetts. Greece is more than just a place to which to travel; it holds a piece of home. 

Getting there? It's not so difficult. I see it in an image of my father I look at every day.

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I'm participating in the #Trust30 challenge, an online writing/reflection initiative for which a prompt is posted daily. All of the prompts to date are found here.

This poem, in Shadorma form, is my response to the fifth prompt from writer Chris Guillebeau:

If we live truly, we shall see truly. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Not everyone wants to travel the world, but most people can identify at least one place in the world they'd like to visit before they die. Where is that place for you, and what will you do to make sure you get there?

* * *

My responses to prompts to date, all in the form of poems, are:

Answer in Time

Giving Meaning to Others

Zigzag

Fifteen Minutes to Count Down

7 comments:

hiwaar said...

I am glad that I have ended my evening surfing to where i also start to write withiout using papers. inspiration could take several forms, and I wish that you understand Arabic then I would have shown you what you have done on me!!!! I shall come back...keep as you are....

S. Etole said...

so much in so few words ...

Jennifer @ JenniferDukesLee.com said...

I've been to Brazil before, but before I die, I want to return. There are people I love there ...

Debra said...

“Birthplace” is so lovely. Is it from your poetry book?

I have friends from Greece, who now live in NC, but they are visiting there now. My husband’s family is from Lebanon, and I understand that the food is akin to Greek cuisine – which I adore.

I might like to travel to Ireland or Wales, since that’s where my roots are.

the sad red earth said...

All I can say is go, Maureen - and don't put if off. Use whatever information you may have to do whatever research you can, and then go. Read about Greek immigration during the period your unknown grandfather might have come, to have some sense of the context, and then go. The sense of historical connection will be profound.

Dawn Potter said...

What an eerie, mysterious tale about your father. Imagine-- writing a family story that is perforce imagined. That is a remarkable task you have, Maureen.

Megan Willome said...

Scotland--also a heritage thing. But I don't travel well, so I don't know if I'll get there.